Learn how ECAT will increase accountability for ED walkouts and how hospitals can quantify financial leakage and improve patient flow.

On The Gist Healthcare Podcast, Emma Wager, senior policy analyst at KFF, discusses the factors driving healthcare hiring, the broader economic context and the financial and policy pressures that could shape future employment.

CMS penalizes hospitals for readmissions

Sustained momentum in hospital and health system M&A has put 2026 on track to be a record year for M&A activity since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest M&A quarterly activity report.

Utah is expanding its AI regulatory sandbox program to test new clinical applications while strengthening oversight. On The Gist Healthcare Podcast, Fierce Healthcare executive editor Heather Landi discusses the state's latest healthcare AI pilots and lessons learned from its inaugural clinical AI pilot from earlier this year.

Review the August 2026 Vizient National Hospital Flash Report for key hospital financial and operational trends.

The sustained momentum in hospital and health system mergers and acquisitions activity has shown that health systems continue to advance active positioning and portfolio management.

Price transparency has been a major priority for successive presidential administrations for more than a decade, since passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Nearly one-third of women say healthcare costs has forced them to make difficult trade-offs, according to the latest KFF Women’s Health Survey.

Policy changes threaten to undermine hospital revenues. Leaders must evaluate multiple factors and act on their understanding to protect their organizations.

Health systems have spent years trying to improve margins by optimizing labor, pursuing supply chain savings, and advancing operational efficiency. Those efforts remain necessary but have limits.