By David R. Burda – About this time last year, I wrote about record profit margins that hospitals posted in 2021, according to data from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) annual March report to Congress.
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By David R. Burda – When we last used this column to visit the topic of patient safety, things were bleak. In “Dead Patient Walking,” we argued that patients are at risk before they even receive care from such things as supply chain shortages, poor EHR systems, cybersecurity attacks and prior authorization delays.
By David R. Burda – Here are the DOJ stats released on Feb. 22 for civil fraud and false claims settlements and judgments recovered for taxpayers by the agency in fiscal 2023, or from Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2023.
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.
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.
By David R. Burda – There’s an intriguing dance taking place right now among patients, physicians, telemedicine technology vendors, regulators and healthcare finance leaders. I’m not sure who will take the lead eventually, but it will be fascinating to watch.
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.
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.
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.