Economics

This channel highlights factors that impact hospital and healthcare economics and revenue. This includes news on healthcare policies, reimbursement, marketing, business plans, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain, salaries, staffing, and the implementation of a cost-effective environment for patients and providers.

Recent fraud cases suggest ‘fake nursing’ has become a troubling career path
A new report reveals that states are keeping databases on “imposter nurses” to slow what could be a growing trend of unlicensed individuals holding nursing positions at hospitals nationwide.
Johnson & Johnson MedTech hit with permanent injunction as fallout over antitrust lawsuit continues
Johnson & Johnson MedTech was already ordered to pay $442.2 million in damages for withholding clinical support to healthcare providers. Now the company has been hit with a permanent injunction designed to stop it from being a repeat offender.
Under-reimbursement keeping radiologists from using key imaging modality, docs warn CMS
Radiologists and other physicians recently wrote to Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, asking for changes related to contrast-enhanced ultrasound.
Looming end of Medicare rural pay adjustment raises concerns about doctor shortages
Anders Gilberg, senior vice president of government affairs at the Medical Group Management Association, explains why Congress needs to renew the Medicare geographic pay adjustments in rural areas—to make payments competitive with urban areas and help retain physicians in those communities.
New $6B Eversana looks to bypass PBMs and lower drug prices
A merger between Eversana and Waltz Health will create a new entity that CEO Mark Thierer says will upend the “existing oligopoly that I helped build.”

State watch: Gun charges stop radiologist’s practice in one state, but not the next over

Plus, imaging workers claim unsafe conditions in California, and Alabama expands scope-of-practice rules for physician assistants.

Analysis: $1.4B could have gone to better uses than discarded Medicare drugs

The authors suggest requiring drugmakers, hospitals and doctors to refund CMS and/or making pharma companies right-size drug containers.

Radiologists, healthcare workers are sick of praise, they’re looking for more pay

One imaging physician with the National Health Service said the speciality comes into contact with all COVID-19 patients and that the government has forgotten about workers such as herself.

Radiology firm Alliance Healthcare Services could fetch upward of $400M in potential sale

The California-based company provides a range of services that include imaging joint ventures, help with center acquisitions, and outsourced radiology assistance for hospitals.

Physicians are using medical imaging as a defense against malpractice claims, study finds

Experts from Emory University discovered a correlation after studying national Medicare imaging trends over a 12-year period and lining them up against lawsuit payouts.

Pandemic perspectives: 3 affected generations, 1 stark conclusion

Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers fall fairly close to one another in how they view several aspects of life with COVID. One in which the divide is wide: the desire for a “digital detox.”

Crisis clobbers affiliated imaging centers, with recovery coming slower than main hospital campus

Such sites generate significant income for hospitals, while also capturing a large portion of outpatient imaging, experts wrote in Academic Radiology.

NIH awards $4.6M grant for research into pediatric ‘chemo brain’

As part of the four year project, experts will pinpoint brain activity on functional MRI scans during attention, memory and other cognitive assessments.

Economics

Recent fraud cases suggest ‘fake nursing’ has become a troubling career path

Johnson & Johnson MedTech hit with permanent injunction as fallout over antitrust lawsuit continues

Under-reimbursement keeping radiologists from using key imaging modality, docs warn CMS

Looming end of Medicare rural pay adjustment raises concerns about doctor shortages

New $6B Eversana looks to bypass PBMs and lower drug prices