Author's posts
Dealmaking stayed hot in 2018, with a focus on physician practices
Physician practices took the spotlight in 2018, as health systems, payers and private equity firms rush to gobble them up.
In 2018, interoperability remained just beyond the horizon
Interoperability remained top of mind in 2018, with players big and small, entrenched and untraditional, joining the cacophonous call for a health system in which patient data can move between providers and, sometimes, even move via the patients…
2018 Healthcare Year in Review
Repeal was replaced for much of 2018, but then December came along. A dozen states advanced plans to impose new enrollment mandates on Medicaid beneficiaries. Deaths mounted from opioids and gun violence, and consumer-facing companies continued…
Absence of government action on public health issues pushed industry to act in 2018
Providers and payers took the lead on public health in 2018, solidifying their stance and mobilizing on the biggest public health issues.
Healthcare organizations turned to unexpected partners in 2018
The year saw a series of unconventional partnerships and unexpected entrants that will shape the healthcare industry well beyond 2018.
Bookended by Obamacare, 2018 was the year of policy change
In 2018, as a lawsuit to overturn Obamacare simmered in the courts, the Trump administration charted its course on a healthcare overhaul. Hospitals and drug manufacturers were the main targets.
Medicaid expansion battle shifted in 2018 to the executive branch and the states
With congressional action to repeal the Affordable Care Act off the table in 2018, the Trump administration and the states engaged in a tense push and pull through the year between expanding, not expanding, and limiting Medicaid eligibility.
Commentary: Reducing the cost of acute care by going home
Hospital at Home provides hospital-level service in the patient’s own home at a fraction of the cost of hospitalization. Health systems are prepared to launch such programs, which would save Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars, once an…
After bitter closure, rural Texas hospital defies the norm and reopens
The 25-bed hospital in Crockett, Texas, abruptly closed its doors in 2017, joining the ranks of nearly 100 rural hospitals that have shut down in the past decade. But the community kept the faith and several doctors reopened the facility this year.
Greater flexibility, new alliances define insurance industry in 2018
In 2018, the Trump administration offered insurers and states extra tools to sidestep the Affordable Care Act. As costs and new competition rose, insurers sought courtships that further blurred the lines between payers and providers.
