Economics

This channel highlights factors that impact hospital and healthcare economics and revenue. This includes news on healthcare policies, reimbursement, marketing, business plans, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain, salaries, staffing, and the implementation of a cost-effective environment for patients and providers.

Healthcare systems set up at the ACC.24 career fair in hopes of filling open positions, including a large and growing number of general cardiologist positions. Photo by Dave Fornell #ACC24 #ACC2024

The growing shortage or general cardiologists and recruiting crisis in rural America

There is a rapidly growing shortage in general cardiologists and for positions in rural areas, numerous healthcare system recruiters set up at the ACC reported.

April 12, 2024
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CMS proposed rule would boost Medicare inpatient rates by 2.6%

CMS has issued a proposed rule that would result in a net increase of 2.6% to the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system rate for fiscal year 2025, a raise that hospital trade groups say doesn’t go far enough.

April 11, 2024
Medicare money payment physician. The CardioVascular Coalition and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions have both issued new statements highlighting their issues with the 2024 MPFS proposed rule. 

Critics call out ‘woefully inadequate’ CMS proposal for inpatient Medicare payments

CMS has issued its proposed rule for the 2025 Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment system, suggesting a payment increase of 2.6%. According to the American Hospital Association, this update would not be enough at a time when hospitals are already struggling to stay open. 

April 11, 2024
CMS drug price negotiations

Drug price dialogues represent ‘an opportunity for CMS to clarify negotiation policies and their potential impact for the future’

CMS must ensure transparency, clarity and predictability by providing detailed guidance on comparator drug selection and the evaluation of evidence, according to a group of D.C.-based health policy researchers.

April 9, 2024
academic medical centers financial health

How teaching hospitals can recover fiscal fitness

Two-fifths of leaders at academic medical centers, 41%, see reducing average length of patient stay as far and away the No. 1 “most untapped” strategy to turn around falling operating margins.

April 8, 2024
Money dollar investments

Johnson & Johnson to acquire Shockwave Medical for $13.1B

The rumors, it seems, were true. Once the deal is finalized, Shockwave Medical will operate as a business unit within Johnson & Johnson MedTech.

April 5, 2024

CVS expanding tuition, scholarship programs for pharmacists

CVS points out that, in pharmacy schools specifically, applications have decreased by more than 60% in less than a decade.

April 4, 2024
generative AI in healthcare

GenAI-focused market researchers: ‘The payer–provider divide is wide and has dangerous implications’

Providers and payers disagree on a lot of things. But the camps are united in their appreciation of workers who have skills relevant to advancing GenAI in healthcare. 

April 4, 2024

Around the web

Half a year after President Biden officially directed federal agencies in the executive branch’s bailiwick to “seize the promise and manage the risks” of AI, the White House has posted a status report.

U.S. physicians often receive payments from medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. New research in JAMA found a connection between receiving such payments and using specific devices—should the industry be concerned? 

Five of the largest U.S. medical societies focused on cardiovascular health are one step closer to seeing their paradigm-shifting proposal become a reality.

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