News Briefs
Lawmakers Strike Deal to Extend Expiring Healthcare Programs
Lawmakers reached a deal to extend expiring healthcare programs, lobbyists close to the issue said. The package is more robust than lobbyists expected.
(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2024-12-16)
READ MORE >
Regulators Finalize Scaled Down Health Data Interoperability Rule
Regulators finalized a scaled down version of a sweeping rule that aims to boost health data interoperability. The final regulation is focused on provisions related to the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, a governance framework for data exchange, though the final rule did not include a number of other sections, like first-of-its-kind certification criteria for health IT tools used by public health agencies and payers, that were in the proposed rule.
(Source: Healthcare Dive, 2024-12-12)
READ MORE >
Appeals Court Rules Against HHS Over Rural Hospital Overpayments
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services overstepped its authority when it boosted Medicare reimbursements to hospitals in low-wage areas to help them recruit and retain staff, a divided federal appeals court ruled. A 2-1 panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that HHS's 2020 policy shift ran afoul of the law governing Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors and some people with disabilities.
(Source: Reuters, 2024-12-11)
READ MORE >
Bills Mandating Insurers Sell Pharmacy Businesses Introduced
A bipartisan group of legislators is seeking to break up pharmacy benefit managers by forcing them to sell pharmacy businesses, in what experts described as Congress' most radical attempt to reform the controversial drug middlemen to date. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill in the Senate that would require healthcare companies that own health insurers or PBMs to sell pharmacy assets within three years.
(Source: Healthcare Dive, 2024-12-11)
READ MORE >
Alternative PBMs Could Post Threat to "Big 3" in 2025
Pharmacy benefit managers were under the microscope from the Federal Trade Commission, lawmakers and states in 2024. Today, the industry's vertically integrated PBMs overwhelmingly dominate pharmacy transactions, but there are signs of that beginning to change.
(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2024-12-16)
READ MORE >
Survey Finds 50% of Home-Based Care Companies Investing in AI
A recent survey revealed that more than half of home-based care companies have either already invested in artificial intelligence or plan to do so within the next year. The primary motivation behind this trend is the ongoing staffing shortages in the sector.
(Source: Home Health Care News, 2024-12-13)
READ MORE >
SNFs, Healthcare Providers Prepare for New Round of HIPAA Audits
Skilled nursing operators and other healthcare providers should prepare for a new round of audits designed to ensure compliance with federal cybersecurity and patient privacy laws, a Health and Human Services official said. Nicholas Heester, senior advisor for cybersecurity for the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, said his team is preparing to take another look at how well operators are meeting requirements.
(Source: McKnight's Long-Term Care News, 2024-12-12)
READ MORE >
Lawmakers Working on Bill to Boost Site-Neutral Payments
The idea of requiring site-neutral payments in Medicare -- in which providers would be reimbursed at the same rate for performing the same service, regardless of where it's performed -- appears to be gaining steam on Capitol Hill. "We are decreasing the out-of-pocket expense for someone receiving the exact same care at the same doctor's office with the same equipment and the same nurse" in cases where the cost of the service increased after the hospital bought the doctor's practice, Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), said at a site-neutral payment event sponsored by Politico and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, referring to a bill which he and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) are developing.
(Source: MedPage Today, 2024-12-12)
READ MORE >
Integrating Back-Office Helps Hospitals Improve Patient Experience
For hospitals to fully understand the patient experience, integration of the clinical, financial, and communications sides of the patient journey is needed, according to Kelly Arduino, Healthcare Industry Leader at Wipfli. When hospitals do integrate, "You kind of start to be able to manage the back office operations of the healthcare entity through these systems that become interconnected and give you a holistic picture."
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2024-12-13)
READ MORE >
Increase in Outpatient Revenues Boosting Hospital Margins
Shifting care to outpatient settings is helping hospitals find stable financial footing. The average monthly operating margin for hospitals jumped 6.2 percent in October, pushing the year-to-date margin to 4.4 percent, as outpatient revenue remained on the rise, according to Kaufman Hall's National Hospital Flash Report.
(Source: HealthLeaders Media, 2024-12-12)
READ MORE >
Hospitals Reporting Improvement in Employee Turnover
Labor woes that have dogged hospitals and health systems across the U.S. could be coming to an end, according to a new report. Aon, the human resources and consulting firm, says "more U.S. hospitals are reporting steady or lower employee turnover after bolstering pay and benefits to help attract and retain talent."
(Source: Forbes, 2024-12-11)
READ MORE >
