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.

DOJ sets new Medicare fraud case record with $900M sweep

In what the Department of Justice (DOJ) is calling the “largest takedown ever” of Medicare fraud, 301 people, including 61 physicians, nurses, pharmacists and physical therapists, have been charged with approximately $900 million in false billings.

Half doctor/half app developer, how physicians are changing healthcare technology

With everyone and their mother trying to make a name for themselves in the technological world of app creation, why can’t physicians try it out too? Well now they are, by helping to develop applications from the minds on the front lines of healthcare, reports Forbes.

More Americans are able to afford healthcare in new Gallup survey

In a survey by Gallup, it was found that fewer Americans are struggling to afford healthcare. From 2008 to 2013 rates of those having difficulty paying for healthcare and medicine dropped form 18.7 percent to a new low of 15.5 percent.

Boston Children's struggles to find space for both nature and NICU patients

Boston Children’s Hospital needs more space, many on its staff told the New York Times.

Study: Post-ACA healthcare spending could fall $2.6 trillion below projections

The U.S. is on pace to spend about $2.6 trillion less on healthcare between 2014 and 2019 than what was originally forecast by CMS in 2010 after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, according to a new study by the Urban Institute and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

What will drive medical costs in 2017

Retail clinics, behavioral health and the increasing popularity of narrow health networks will add up to a 6.5 percent growth in medical costs in 2017, the same as in 2016, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Health Research Institute.

Thumbnail

Telemedicine kiosks have arrived at a location near you

As technology evolves and telemedicine is able to expand, more and more people are able to use these new innovations in ways that haven’t been seen before. Imagine a day at work when you’re feeling a bit sick and all you have to do is go into the lobby to consult with your doctor, well now you can as more and more offices are implementing telemedicine kiosks, reports Kaiser Health News. 

NIH refuses to reduce price of $129,000 prostate cancer drug

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) denied a petition to use its “march-in rights” to help lower the cost of Xtandi, a drug to treated advanced prostate cancer.

Around the web

The tirzepatide shortage that first began in 2022 has been resolved. Drug companies distributing compounded versions of the popular drug now have two to three more months to distribute their remaining supply.

The 24 members of the House Task Force on AI—12 reps from each party—have posted a 253-page report detailing their bipartisan vision for encouraging innovation while minimizing risks. 

Merck sent Hansoh Pharma, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, an upfront payment of $112 million to license a new investigational GLP-1 receptor agonist. There could be many more payments to come if certain milestones are met.