Reports Surveys Studies

Reading Between the Lines of Year-End Healthcare Merger and Acquisition Reports

By David Burda – Is the pace of merger and acquisition activity in an industry a sign of the industry’s health? I don’t know. I’m not an economist. I just write about this stuff. But if it is, then the healthcare industry felt a little off last year. Not enough to justify the incessant whining. But a little off. Like someone with a summer cold who acts like they’re going to die.

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The Costly Lever of Prior Authorization

By David R. Burda – The long-running debate over prior authorization typically is framed around patient care. PA delays or denials prevent patients from receiving medically necessary care when they need it. Within that frame is the administrative burden that PA puts on physicians.



Bad Billing

By David R. Burda – A short research letter recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association supports the idea that it’s providers and payers, not patients, that have created the revenue cycle mayhem.


Medicare Advantage Is a Burst Pipe

By David R. Burda – The money flowing from Medicare into Medicare Advantage is like water gushing out of a frozen pipe. Here are the latest numbers from CMS, which released its annual national health expenditure figures on Dec. 13, 2023.


Catching Up on Alternative Payment Models

By David R. Burda – HCPLAN’s latest annual report is another reminder that the transition to APMs has stalled out. Many consider HCPLAN’s annual report as the gold standard for measuring the transition to APMs. It breaks down payment models into four categories.


Yes, Some Good Patient Safety News

By David R. Burda – Better check the byline on this blog post. It’s about patient safety improving at hospitals. Yes, I’m the author. I also try not to be a hypocrite. If I write about patient safety dropping hospitals, like I did in this monthly column, “Dead Patient Walking,” then I feel compelled to write about it when it gets better…


US Healthcare Continues to Be Risk Averse

By David Burda – As you know, I’m more of a glass-half-empty, bad-news kind of guy, not a glass-half-full, good-news kind of guy. Especially when our health outcomes in the U.S. continue to fall below health outcomes in other high-income nations despite more providers having VBR contracts with commercial insurers. Big deal.