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COVID-19 spurs rise in hospital mega mergers, finds Kaufman Hall
The number of hospital and health system mergers and acquisitions saw a sharp decline in the first quarter of the year, but the average transaction size soared, finds new analysis from industry consultant Kaufman Hall. This trend is a reversal from Q1 …
Anti-vaccination proponents inadvertently inspire pro-vaccination social media campaign
What can vaccine proponents, clinicians and public health communicators learn from “anti-vaxxers?” A lot, according to new guidance for pro-vaccination social media events written by University of Pittsburgh health scientists.
Blockchain, telehealth promise more efficiency as healthcare looks to bounce back from COVID-19
The battle against COVID-19 continues, with the pandemic exposing flaws and cracks in global healthcare systems that speak to big inefficiencies in the sector. These inefficiencies, many of them administrative in nature, touch all aspects of healthcare…
onehome partnering with Devoted Health on post-acute home-based care for Medicare Advantage
Post-acute home-based care provider onehome is partnering with Medicare Advantage company Devoted Health to expand care to the latter’s members in Arizona, Ohio and San Antonio, Texas.
The goal of the partnership is to enhance care by enabling members …
BCBS Minnesota launches kidney disease care program with DaVita’s VillageHealth
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has become the latest insurer seeking to better manage the risk of patients afflicted with permanent kidney failure, with such patients now eligible to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans for the first time.
Most consumers want to keep telehealth after the COVID-19 pandemic
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth was more of a novelty than a necessity. The concept of touching base with a doctor remotely was promising, but there were hurdles.
Now, though, with many of those hurdles at least temporarily lifted — due to po…
CMS proposes changes to skilled nursing facility prospective payment system
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule that would update Medicare payment policies and rates for skilled nursing facilities under the Skilled Nursing Facility prospective payment system for fiscal year 2022.
MVP Health Care, University of Vermont Health Network to co-create MA plan focused on elder care
Non-profit MVP Health Care, a health plan based in Vermont and New York, and the University of Vermont Health Network are teaming up to launch a joint Medicare Advantage plan, the organizations announced this week.
The entities are currently focused on…
Two vaccination sites close after adverse reactions to Johnson & Johnson vaccine
Americans are getting COVID-19 vaccinations at a steady clip, but national inoculation efforts hit a snag this week as two different vaccination sites, one in North Carolina and one in Colorado, shut down temporarily after an abnormal number of adverse…
Health literacy seen as an important tool in increasing COVID-19 vaccine uptake
Healthcare professionals largely see vaccines as a key tool in ending the COVID-19 pandemic, but they will only work to that end if enough Americans become inoculated so as to achieve herd immunity. The vaccines themselves are largely effective. The ch…
