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.

Proposed HHS budget would close NINR, cut nursing programs
The American Nurses Association is warning that eliminating support for the training and research offered by the National Institute of Nursing Research could be devastating to the public, as many programs support specialties such as maternal and mental health.
Family of heart patient who died awarded $45M after suing health system for negligence
The 55-year-old patient woke up experiencing chest pain one morning and an ambulance was called. He was dead just a few hours later. His family's lawsuit argued that delays in care, communication errors and other issues were directly responsible for his death.
Leaked HHS budget reveals 30% cuts, elimination of many core services
A proposal for the massive restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services ends funding to programs associated with chronic disease management, lead safety, and Head Start. However, HHS is adding a new department to focus on understanding the cause of long-term illness.
RadNet leaders discuss rationale behind blockbuster $103M iCAD AI acquisition
RadNet provides 1.9M mammograms per year in the U.S., and adding iCAD’s installed customer base would boost the number of impacted exams to 10M.
Interventional radiologists ‘markedly’ increase billing for nonprocedural work, despite drop in overall doc count
"These findings underscore IR’s accelerating transition toward comprehensive patient care, with significant implications for training, practice management, and the specialty’s role within the broader healthcare landscape," experts write.

ACR submits comments supporting Patients Over Paperwork initiative

The American College of Radiology (ACR) submitted comments Aug. 12 to CMS indicating its support for reducing administrative burden through the Patients over Paperwork initiative.

3 ways a pediatric radiology labor shortage could make an impact

Demand for pediatric radiologists is currently outpacing the supply, according to a new analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. What could this trend mean going forward?

When Google’s DeepMind bleeds money, should all AI stakeholders worry?

DeepMind Technologies Ltd., the Google/Alphabet-owned elephant in the AI research room, has lost more than $1 billion over the past three years. And it owes another billion to creditors who’ll be looking for their money back, with interest, over the next year or so.

High-tech ‘mission control center’ helps hospital system run like NASA

An eight-hospital health system in the Pacific Northwest has set up an AI-based “mission control center” to manage patient capacity, bed availability, hospital transfers and patients’ health status.

Illinois becomes 1st state to mandate EpiPen coverage for kids

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed House Bill 3435 this month, CNN reported—a law that will require insurance companies to cover all costs of EpiPen injections for anyone under 18 years old.

CMS will no longer cut reimbursement for Impella heart pumps

CMS this month announced that, after continued analysis of Abiomed’s Impella RP system, it will no longer be cutting its reimbursement rate for the heart pump in October.

Consumers more likely to embrace AI in commerce than healthcare

Only 51% of consumers feel optimistic or safe when it comes to AI infiltrating the healthcare space in the form of helping providers in diagnostic decision making and care management, according to a recent survey from Blumberg Capital.

IBM’s ‘Dr. Watson’ may have been misguided from the start

If IBM’s Watson goes down as an early failure of AI in healthcare, the fumble may be recorded as an unforced error made by humans who were determined to position the company as the first serious player on the field.

Economics

Proposed HHS budget would close NINR, cut nursing programs

Family of heart patient who died awarded $45M after suing health system for negligence

Leaked HHS budget reveals 30% cuts, elimination of many core services

RadNet leaders discuss rationale behind blockbuster $103M iCAD AI acquisition

Interventional radiologists ‘markedly’ increase billing for nonprocedural work, despite drop in overall doc count