News Briefs
Healthcare M&A Expected to Rebound, Post-Acute Care to See Most
Economic uncertainties may have put a damper on healthcare M&A during the first quarter of the year, but many still expect a rebound as 2025 progresses. About 20 percent of 150 healthcare executives surveyed indicated that post-acute settings are expected to see the most transaction activity in the next 12 months compared with other organizations in the continuum.
(Source: Hospice News, 2025-05-27)
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Hospitals Expedite Medical Devices Purchases Ahead of Tariffs
With a wave of tariffs hitting U.S. trade, hospitals may be accelerating purchases of certain medical devices to stay ahead of expected price hikes, according to a new analysis from GlobalData. The data and analytics firm reported that the top 20 healthcare facilities across 56 medical device markets spent an average of 6.7 percent more in April 2025 compared to March, based on its U.S. Healthcare Facility Invoicing Database.
(Source: Medical Economics, 2025-05-27)
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Agencies Release Guidance on Hospital Price Transparency Rules
The Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services released updated guidance on hospital price transparency requirements per a directive from President Trump's February 2025 executive order. Executive Order 14221, "Making America Healthy Again by Empowering Patients with Clear, Accurate, and Actionable Healthcare Pricing Information," directed the Secretaries of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) to issue guidance within 90 days on the standardization of pricing information and enforcement policies.
(Source: Tech Target, 2025-05-28)
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States Considering Bills to Regulate Pharmacy Benefit Managers
In the void left by the absence of reform at the national level, states have stepped in to regulate pharmacy benefit managers and their relationships with pharmacies. In 2024 alone, there were 33 bills passed focused on PBM reform across about 20 states, and all 50 states are currently considering bills that would impact PBMs or drug benefits.
(Source: Managed Healthcare Executive, 2025-05-30)
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PBMs Sue Arkansas Over Lawsuit Banning Pharmacy Ownership
Express Scripts, the pharmacy benefit manager for Cigna, has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a new law in Arkansas that would prohibit PBMs from owning or operating pharmacies in the state, and CVS and Caremark have filed their own lawsuit challenging the law. Express Scripts contended in its lawsuit that the "deceivingly" titled law -- "An Act to Prohibit A Pharmacy Benefits Manager From Obtaining Certain Pharmacy Permits" -- would effectively shut down pharmacies across the state.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2025-06-02)
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Report Finds Health Workers Exposing Patient Info Through AI Use
A growing number of healthcare workers are turning to generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini to lighten their workloads. But many are doing it without the proper safeguards -- and in ways that could be violating federal privacy laws. Netskope's 2025 Threat Labs Healthcare report, which analyzed cloud app usage, AI trends, and data violations across health systems, found sensitive patient data -- including protected health information -- is frequently uploaded to tools and platforms that aren't HIPAA-compliant, putting both patients and clinicians at risk.
(Source: Medical Economics, 2025-05-30)
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Patients Concerned About Data Security Not Using Portals
Data security is a significant factor when it comes to encouraging people to use patient portals, according to a survey commissioned by data analytics firm LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Nearly half of non-users said they lacked confidence in the security of their data on patient portals, compared with 11 percent of users.
(Source: Healthcare Dive, 2025-05-29)
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Physician-Led and Rural Access to Quality Care Act Introduced
The AMA supports bipartisan federal legislation that would create exemptions to current restrictions on physician ownership of hospitals and allow these facilities to open in communities that face the greatest demand for additional hospital services. The Physician-Led and Rural Access to Quality Care Act, H. R. 2191, would permit physicians to own rural hospitals as long as the facility is more than a 35-mile drive from a main patient campus or critical-access hospital.
(Source: Medical Buyer, 2025-05-30)
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Number of Doctors in Private Practice Declined to 42.2% in 2024
Inadequate payment rates, high resource costs, and regulatory red tape are increasingly driving physicians away from work in private practice toward employment at hospitals or practices owned by private equity firms, according to a new analysis published by the American Medical Association. Just over 42 percent of physicians worked in private practices in 2024, representing an 18 percentage point drop compared to 2012.
(Source: Healthcare Dive, 2025-06-02)
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Hospices Expect Adverse Impact from $700B in Medicaid Cuts
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill proposing an estimated more than $700 billion in Medicaid cuts during the next decade. The legislation's potential impacts on community-based hospice care delivery could be significant, according to industry stakeholders.
(Source: Hospice News, 2025-05-29)
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Healthcare Efficiency Improving as Collaborations Increase
Strategic collaborations between payers, providers, and health IT vendors are accelerating gains in healthcare efficiency, quality, and financial performance, according to the latest KLAS Points of Light report. The initiative recognized 25 partnerships in 2025 that demonstrated measurable impact in areas such as value-based care, prior authorization, and data interoperability -- each of which has become more urgent under new CMS mandates.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2025-05-27)
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