Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies.

Stewardship Health sale to private equity finalized for $245M
The physician group, once part of Steward Health Care, has been rebranded as Revere Medical.
Baxter producing IV solutions ahead of schedule at Asheville-area site
The company said its largest production line at its North Carolina plant is operational, accounting for 25% of total output. The site was damaged by flood waters from Hurricane Helene.
Hackers were inside an Iowa hospital’s network for two weeks
St. Anthony Regional Hospital confirmed patient data was taken by cybercriminals, but the August incident is still being investigated.
Bill introduced in Congress would raise physician reimbursement by 1.9%
The Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act aims to change the annual Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services physician fee schedule, which cut reimbursement by 2.8% for 2025.
Good AI governance can spell the difference between smashing success and mere learning experience
Discussions of AI governance may cause many an eye to glass over, but the discipline is as crucial to the ascent of AI in healthcare as big training datasets drawn from diverse patient populations.

Study: More than half of adults misuse their prescriptions

A majority of adults drug tested by Quest Diagnostics in 2015 were misusing their prescription drugs, according to a new study of patient results released by the clinical laboratory services company.

July 26, 2016

CDC expands Zika blood testing period for pregnant women to 14 days

Updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) instructs physicians to test pregnant women for Zika up to 14 days after symptoms begin. It also adds new recommendations based on the first documented female-to-male transmission of the virus.

July 26, 2016

Florida providers going to trial in $360 million antitrust case against HealthFirst

Several healthcare providers and physicians in Florida are planning on going to trial with integrated system HealthFirst, seeking more than $360 million in damages for alleged antitrust violations.

July 25, 2016

Study: ACA cut hospital charity care, stabilized bad debt expenses

An analysis of CMS data by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said hospitals spent less on charity care and unrecoverable debt once the Affordable Care Act was implemented.

July 25, 2016

New FDA draft guidance seeks to clarify UDI forms

A new draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeks to clarify how Unique Device Identifiers (UDIs) are included on medical devices.

July 25, 2016

Stolen laptop costs the University of Mississippi Medical Center $2.75 million

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has reached a settlement of $2.75 million with the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson concerning the matter of a missing laptop.

July 25, 2016

CMS star rating system coming "shortly"

Medicare patients who are trying to pick a provider will soon have a more straight-forward, visual way to compare nearly 4,000 hospitals. CMS will assign each hospital an overall rating of between one to five stars, the distribution of which it announced in a statement July 21. 

July 22, 2016

State news: Ill. requires 3D mammography coverage, Mont. health workers fired for giving data to lawmakers

Here’s a roundup of state healthcare news, including complaints over slow payments in Iowa’s privately managed Medicaid program and California overhauling its cancer database.

July 22, 2016

Around the web

Cardiovascular Business

Q&A: Why are cardiovascular devices involved in so many recalls? FDA policies may be to blame

Cardiovascular devices are more likely to be in a Class I recall than any other device type. The FDA's approval process appears to be at least partially responsible, though the agency is working to make some serious changes. We spoke to a researcher who has been tracking these data for years to learn more.

Cardiovascular Business

Cardiologist compensation still rising, especially in invasive and interventional cardiology

Updated compensation data includes good news for multiple subspecialties. The new report also examines private equity's impact on employment models and how much male cardiologists earn compared to females.

Cardiovascular Business

FDA’s tirzepatide decision creates uncertainty for patients—and leads to a lawsuit

When drugs are on the FDA’s shortage list, outsourcing facilities can produce their own compounded versions. When the FDA removed tirzepatide from that list with no warning, it created a considerable amount of chaos both behind the scenes and in pharmacies all over the country.

Policy & Regulations

Stewardship Health sale to private equity finalized for $245M

Baxter producing IV solutions ahead of schedule at Asheville-area site

Hackers were inside an Iowa hospital’s network for two weeks

Bill introduced in Congress would raise physician reimbursement by 1.9%

Good AI governance can spell the difference between smashing success and mere learning experience

Around the web