On average, Medicare households spent 15% of their total spending on health-related expenses in 2021, versus 7% for non-Medicare households, according to a new KFF report.

By reimagining health care supply chain as a centralized, high-value distribution and product selection and procurement model, hospitals and health systems can more effectively reach their goals for expense reduction while driving substantial improvements for patients and team members alike.

The Peterson Health Technology Institute will function as an “independent evaluator” of digital health solutions. It will analyze solutions’ clinical effectiveness, how they’re affecting healthcare costs, their ability to improve health equity, and their privacy and security capabilities. 

Nurse unions and labor experts agree that the pandemic was a turning point that catalyzed nurses to fight for improved working conditions and overall better treatment from their employers. By negotiating new contracts with their employers, unions are working hard to both uphold patient safety and mitigate the nursing field’s debilitating workforce shortage.

We may not fully understand the link between Covid-19 and Alzheimer’s, but we already have the scientific research and tools to address people’s fears, support their cognitive health journey, and reverse the increase of Alzheimer’s.

The nation’s two largest for-profit hospital chains — HCA and Tenet — increased their EBITDA as salary and benefit obligations became less burdensome in Q1. Unsurprisingly, the story for nonprofit hospitals is a bit different. For this class of health systems, the stress associated with labor costs is subsiding, but operating margins are having a difficult time bouncing back, according to a new Moody’s report.

Sanofi is interested in Recludix Pharma’s approach to treating inflammation with an oral small molecule that targets a protein thought to be undruggable. If it works, the drug could have safety and dosing advantages over currently available biologic drugs, including blockbuster Sanofi drug Dupixent.

Medicaid managed care organizations deny prior authorization requests at high rates, according to a recent report by the Office of Inspector General. Of the 115 MCOs the OIG analyzed, 12 had prior authorization denial rates above 25%.

Peppermint is an “online clubhouse community” for adults aged 55 and older that allows them to connect with others through online clubs (like for traveling or gardening), workshops (like for nutrition or photography) and collaboration (where members can work together on activities like creating a recipe book). It aims to reduce loneliness by creating a sense of community and purpose for older adults, Peppermint’s CEO said.

The restructuring of cardiovascular drugmaker Amarin means the layoff of about 30% of staff. Sales of Vascepa, the company’s only commercialized product, have suffered as generic versions gain traction in the market.

Novartis’s acquisition of DTx Pharma brings a lead program for a rare disease with no FDA-approved therapies. But the deal could also help the pharma giant bring new RNA therapies to new places in the body, a top Novartis executive explained.

Over the past decade, a significant percentage of the country’s physicians have shifted from working in private practices (defined as those owned wholly by physicians) to working in bigger, health system-owned practices. The ability to negotiate higher payment rates with insurers when working at a larger practice is a crucial factor causing this trend, according to a new AMA analysis.

When facilities operate their own acute dialysis operations and no longer enlist third parties to provide treatment, they save hundreds of dollars per session. Insourcing also enables hospitals to keep trained dialysis staff on hand full-time to actively ensure quality kidney care to their patients.

More than half of employees said they don’t have mental health benefits in their benefit package or aren’t sure if they do, according to a new survey. About two-thirds of respondents said they would use a digital mental health benefit if it was offered to them.

Herself Health’s $26 million Series A funding round was led by Michael Cline, founding managing partner of Accretive, and included participation from Juxtapose. It comes six months after Herself Health raised $7 million in seed funding. In total, the company has raised $33 million.

A new survey revealed that 64% of clinicians feel physically unsafe at work. The perceived risk of violence was especially high among women, clinicians under age 40, emergency department physicians and employees who work with patients struggling with addiction or other mental health conditions.

Pfizer and Flagship Pioneering are partnering in a drug research alliance leveraging the capabilities of the more than 40 biotech startups in the venture capital firm’s portfolio. The new partners aim to develop drugs for unmet needs, including those in broad patient populations.

Quantum Health has bolstered its collaboration with Sword Health by integrating MSK services to members to track home exercise, avoid unnecessary surgery and support treatment of pelvic conditions.

NYU researchers conducted a study this year in which nearly 400 people were asked to identify whether responses to patient questions were produced by human providers or ChatGPT. Participants had a limited ability to tell the source of the responses apart, so the study authors concluded that the use of LLMs like ChatGPT could be an effective way to streamline healthcare providers’ communication with patients.

Prominence Health Medicare Advantage enrollees will have 24/7 access to Strive Health’s specialized care team through a new partnership. Strive Health is also teaming up with Sierra Nevada Specialty Care, a local nephrology clinic in Nevada.

AstraZeneca and Sanofi drug Beyfortus is now FDA approved for preventing respiratory problems from RSV infection in infants and toddlers. Antibody engineering enables the drug to last longer in the body, providing protective effects for potentially the entire RSV season.

Kraft Heinz recently sued Aetna, claiming that the insurer is not providing all of Kraft Heinz’s medical claims data. More lawsuits of this sort are likely to come, experts warned.

The at-home care field holds significant market potential. As the subsector continues to grow, some leaders of home healthcare startups are challenging misconceptions that some other industry stakeholders may still have, including the misbelief that at-home care is only for senior citizens and that this care model lacks scalability.

Alzheimer’s disease patients in the earliest stages of their disease benefited the most from Eli Lilly drug donanemab, which is expected to receive an FDA decision by the end of 2023. Full results from the drug’s pivotal study were presented during the during the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

As of January 1, employer-sponsored Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Issuers must make make the prices of 500 medical services available via an Internet-based tool. The Transparency in Coverage final rule gets even tougher on January 1, 2024, when the prices of all medical services must be made available via an Internet-based tool.

M&A activity among hospitals and health systems increased in Q2 of 2023 — there were 20 deals in Q2 compared to 15 deals in Q1, according to a new report. This surge brought Q2’s M&A activity levels in line with those observed before the pandemic. Q2’s 20 deal marks the highest number of announced transactions for hospitals and health systems since Q1 of 2020.

KFF found that the 10 top-selling Part D drugs represented $47.7 billion of the $215.7 billion total gross Medicare Part D drug spending in 2021. Eliquis, a blood thinner by Bristol Myers Squibb, accounted for the most spending out of these 10 drugs at $12.6 billion. 

Tenpoint Therapeutics’ name refers to the time it takes for an image to hit the retina and be processed by the brain. The regenerative medicine startup is developing cell therapies it hopes restore that vision capability for patients with degenerative eye disorders.

For those unfamiliar with the CPAP recall situation in question, imagine if one-third of all cars on the road were suddenly recalled for potentially life-threatening issues. Now imagine that in the aforementioned hypothetical automobile recall, the media dedicated its energy almost entirely to reporting on the worsening problem without making viewers aware of potential solutions.

CMS recently revealed its proposals to raise reimbursement rates for hospital outpatient departments and cut payments for physicians. Next year, the agency is planning to decrease physicians’ pay by 1.25% and increase outpatient payment rates by 2.8%. Provider groups are unhappy with the news — AMA President Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld said the new physician fee schedule will be “almost biblical in its impact.”