Author's posts
American Rescue Plan will be credit positive for nonprofit hospitals, says Fitch
The American Rescue Plan contains a number of measures that would subtly improve the revenue profile and reduce cost pressures for nonprofit hospitals, according to Fitch Ratings.
AHIP submits testimony for Senate hearing on COVID-19 and improving health equity
This week, America’s Health Insurance Plans submitted testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee for a hearing focused on improving health equity and outcomes by addressing health disparities during the COVID-19 response.
athenahealth attempts to tackle physician burnout through medical coding
Provider burnout is a persistent problem in healthcare, and has only been made worse by the added pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this, software and services company athenahealth has rolled out its new Medical Coding solution that aims t…
Negative operating margins likely to haunt 39% of hospitals in 2021
With scores of Americans getting vaccinated by the day, hospitals are slowly allowing themselves to feel optimistic about their financial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. But even in the best case scenario, 39% of hospitais will likely have negativ…
Electronic prior authorizations reduce burden, time spent, finds AHIP and RTI
Handling prior authorization requests electronically as opposed to manually can reduce the median time between submitting a PA request and receiving a decision — clocking in at around three times faster for a time reduction of about 69%, according to …
AHIP, others applaud House bill focused on audio-only telehealth for Medicare Advantage
America’s Health Insurance Plans has praised the introduction of a bill that would improve access to audio-only telehealth for seniors in Medicare Advantage. The bill, which was originally introduced in July 2020, was revived by the U.S. House of Repre…
NAACOS asks HHS Secretary Becerra to grow Medicare ACO programs
The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) sent a letter on Monday congratulating Xavier Becerra, secretary of the D
Cleveland Clinic teams with Lilly and Anthem on heart surgery option for Lilly health plan
Cleveland Clinics boasts expertise in cardiac surgery, and now that expertise is available to eligible Eli Lilly and Company employees, retirees and their family members through the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Concierge Program.
The new program is in col…
UnitedHealthcare rolls out virtual option to help patients remotely access hearing care
UnitedHealthcare Hearing has introduced a new virtual care offering that’s meant to expand access to custom-programmed hearing aids while reducing the need for in-person appointments for fittings and adjustments. This option is available for those enro…
AstraZeneca vaccine shows 79% efficacy in phase III trial
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has just undergone a phase III trial in the U.S., demonstrating 79% efficacy at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 11% efficacy at preventing severe disease and hospitalization.
