Category: Healthcare Finance News

RSV on the rise in the Southeast, says CDC

Respiratory syncytial virus activity is on the rise in the Southeast, and with numbers ticking up over recent weeks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that numbers are likely to rise nationally over the next several months.

Walgreens to offer OTC Narcan nasal spray this month

In an effort to increase access to naloxone, Walgreens has said that over-the-counter (OTC) NARCAN nasal spray will be available at its stores and online this month, with nationwide availability beginning today.
This follows the U.S. Food and Drug Admi…

Nurses largely content, but need improvement in onboarding, career development

About two-thirds of nurses say they’re satisfied with their career, with eight in 10 saying they’re likely to stay in healthcare. But according to a new Jarrard survey, there’s room for improvement, particularly when it comes to onboarding and career d…

Medicare Advantage growth fueled by people switching from original Medicare

Medicare Advantage has steadily grown in popularity and now covers slightly more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries, and one of the drivers of this growth has been people switching from traditional Medicare, especially younger and healthier patien…

CMS’s own study appears to question proposed staffing standards

On September 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed minimum nursing standards for nursing homes, days Kaiser Health News published a study commissioned by CMS that said there was “no single staffing level that would guarantee qualit…

New FDA program incentivizes drugmakers to invest in quality measures

Quality issues are still the number one reason for drug shortages, and in an effort to address this, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is debuting a quality management maturity (QMM) program intended to incentivize drugmakers to invest in quality m…

CMS announces all-payer model for states

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released the voluntary States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development Model in which participating hospitals would receive a fixed payment amount in advance of a prospectively set …

California health system pays $5 million for alleged Medicaid false claims

Lompoc Valley Medical Center (LVMC), a California healthcare system that operates multiple providers including a hospital and several clinics, has agreed to pay $5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the California …

Humana to provide in-home primary care through CenterWell business

CenterWell Senior Primary Care, a Humana-owned primary care business focused on seniors, said this week it will start offering in-home primary care services to seniors who seek care at certain facilities in Louisiana and Georgia.
The new program, Prima…

HHS proposes minimum staffing standards for nursing homes

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has issued a proposed rule that seeks to establish comprehensive staffing requirements for nursing homes – including, for the first time, national…