All Featured Insights

CMS releases results from the first round of Medicare Drug Price Negotiations, Steward finds a buyer for its physician group, and employers are using price transparency data in their suits against Aetna.

After several challenging years, hospitals and health systems are experiencing modest improvements in financial conditions.

Because it has been so long since we have experienced a rate environment that provides for noticeable earnings, the art of generating excess earnings from cash assets may have gone dormant in the minds and busy days of treasurers. If so, it is time to bring that art back to life.

Amid increased bipartisan interest from policymakers on the nation’s increasing medical debt burden (estimated to total at least $220B), this week’s graphic examines who holds medical debt and how recent changes to credit reporting have affected them.

CVS to roll out co-located Oak Street Health clinics amid reduced profit outlook, CMS finalizes inpatient payment rule that includes new mandatory bundled payment model, and an appeals court gives providers another win in No Surprises Act litigation.

The latest Kaufman Hall National Hospital Flash Report shows that the Calendar Year to Date Operating Margin Index for hospitals was 4.1% in June.

Health systems are confronting a new normal of shrinking revenue and rising labor costs. In the second quarter of 2024, increased labor expenses accounted for 83.9% of total expenses. Additionally, the median investment/subsidy per provider rose 3% since Q2 2023.

In this week’s graphic, we take stock of both the evolving usage and employer coverage of GLP-1 drugs, specifically for weight loss.

Community Health Systems plans to sell its three Pennsylvania hospitals, a bankruptcy judge allows Steward Health Care to close two Massachusetts hospitals, and CMS approves North Carolina’s medical debt relief program.

Length of stay affects many elements of a hospital’s financial performance, and it is also a key driver of patient satisfaction. Effective management of length of stay requires consistent leadership, and hospitalists are the logical choice to fill that leadership role.

The House Oversight Committee criticizes PBM pricing tactics, Humana’s CenterWell plans to open primary care centers at Walmarts, and a federal judge upholds the FTC’s noncompete rule, diverging from a previous district court ruling.

In this week’s graphic, we highlight the most recent data from software and analytics firm Strata Decision Technology to assess how hospital volumes have changed since 2022.