In the week between the Christmas and New Year holidays, the U.S. Congress took bipartisan action to include the regulation of surprise medical bills in its massive government funding and pandemic stimulus bill. Similar legislation failed to survive the resistance of interest groups a year ago, but recent events have triggered widening support...
The online retail and web services giant continues to broaden its capabilities in the $3 Trillion dollar healthcare industry. Its unrivaled success at disrupting vulnerable industries with superior performance and customer-centered experiences should be a warning sign to hospitals and healthcare systems who are not yet planning to compete...
Health system and hospital financial performance began to rebound in Q3 as volumes recovered from Q2’s suspension of elective or nonessential services. But with COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations now hitting all-time highs across the country, Healthcare is looking to the incoming administration for a coordinated federal response to the...
Amidst the barrage of events profoundly affecting Americans in 2020, it can be difficult to envision what “normal” will look like when the crisis and election turmoil have passed. For healthcare, however, the signs are clear - and although the changes may not end up being as dramatic as some may have wanted (or feared), the economics of care...
COVID-19 and the upcoming election have kept healthcare access and affordability at the center of the national debate for providers, payers (insurers), regulators and Congress. With all this pressure, 2021 may be the year for healthcare’s long-called-for transformation to a more patient centric operating model.
The findings of a just-published consumer survey confirm a disturbing financial condition affecting patients and the healthcare providers that serve them. Until improved systems for enhancing healthcare affordability are embraced, the financial security of patients and providers is threatened, whether consumers are insured, under-insured or...
In their response to the novel coronavirus, healthcare providers in the United States quickly pivoted to alternative care delivery systems better suited to the extraordinary new needs of healthcare consumers. Forward-looking projections from multiple healthcare industry experts suggest that healthcare’s COVID-19 adaptations are just the...
The COVID-19 crisis has hit hospitals and other healthcare providers with an unprecedented “financial triple whammy” from which some may not recover. As the downturn has laid bare many of the industry’s most ineffective systems, it also presents a remarkable opportunity to embrace digital contactless innovations to survive now and thrive later.
On March 9, 2020, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), under U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its final rules on healthcare interoperability and medical record ownership and access. These rules, titled the Cures Act Final Rules, align with complementary rules proposed by the Center...