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.

Humana reportedly in talks to buy Kindred

Continuing a flurry of big mergers and acquisitions around healthcare as 2017 winds down, health insurer Humana is reportedly in “advanced talks” to buy Kindred Healthcare with help from two private equity firms.

Online portals fail to present info in a way meaningful to patients

Current online patient portals do not present test information in an easily understandable context for the majority of patients, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

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Teva Pharmaceuticals to cut 25% of its global workforce

Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals, the largest generic drugmaker in the world, will be laying off 14,000 employees, a quarter of its workforce worldwide, including “significant” cuts to its 7,000 U.S. workers.

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AMGA: 60% of members ready to take on downside risk within 2 years

Providers represented by the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) expect more of their business to come from risk-based products in 2019, with government revenues moving from Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) towards Medicare Advantage and shared risk accounting for a greater share of revenue in commercial settings.

Beth Israel-Lahey Health merger to be reviewed by state agency

The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission will review the impacts of a proposed merger between Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Burlington, Massachusetts-based Lahey Health and three other hospitals.

HHS code-a-thon aims to prevent opioid overdoses, death

HHS is fighting the opioid crisis with data crunching. Started by HHS Chief Technology Officer Bruce Greenstein, the code-a-thon brought information technology professionals together to develop an impactful approach to reducing opioid overdoses and deaths.

Video game improves physician triage of severe trauma patients

Physicians who played a video game showing a young doctor treating severe trauma patients were better able to distinguish patients in need of higher level of care, according to a study published in The BMJ.

Mergers of Catholic health systems leaves for-profit operators in a bind

Large, for-profit hospital chains HCA, Tenet Healthcare and Community Health Systems (CHS) may come the biggest losers if recently announced mergers of nonprofit systems go through, as hundreds of hospitals will no longer be options for expansion through acquisition. 

Around the web

CMS finalized a significant policy change when it increased the Medicare payments hospitals receive for performing CCTA exams. What, exactly, does the update mean for cardiologists, billing specialists and other hospital employees?

Stryker, a global medtech company based out of Michigan, has kicked off 2025 with a bit of excitement. The company says Inari’s peripheral vascular portfolio is highly complementary to its own neurovascular portfolio.

RBMA President Peter Moffatt discusses declining reimbursement rates, recruiting challenges and the role of artificial intelligence in transforming the industry.