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.

Price transparency study in radiology

Mercy says it won’t be raising prices at recently acquired imaging provider

Metro Imaging, a radiology practice based out of Creve Coeur, Missouri, founded in 1994, often advertised the fact that it provided much more affordable imaging services than hospitals in the area. Now that it has been acquired by Mercy, a large healthcare system with hospitals throughout the Midwest, could those prices be changing?

April 6, 2018

Trump proposes tariffs on a host of Chinese imports—including medical imaging equipment

In what some are calling the early stages in a trade war between the world’s two largest economies, the U.S. government has announced plans to place tariffs on more than 1,000 products imported from China—including medical imaging equipment.

April 5, 2018

Family files lawsuit against radiologist, 2 other doctors, 2 California hospitals for medical negligence

In December 2016, a 59-year-old patient from Middletown, California, saw doctors twice in eight days at two different hospitals for upper back pain. The day after her second visit, she died after her aorta ruptured.

April 5, 2018

US proposes new tariffs on Chinese imports—including medical imaging equipment

The U.S. government has proposed tariffs on more than a thousand products imported from China, including medical imaging equipment.

April 5, 2018

Patient portals could be causing additional patient stress

Patient portals are touted as a new avenue to improve engagement. But this new method of communication may be the cause of addition stress in the patients, according to the Washington Post.

April 4, 2018
partnership

Charlotte Radiology forms new venture, US Radiology Specialists, with healthcare investment firm

Charlotte Radiology, a private radiology practice based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, and the healthcare investment firm of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) have announced the formation of a new venture, US Radiology Specialists.

April 4, 2018

Steep drops in wealth tied to 50% increase in death risk

According to a new study in JAMA, people who lost at least 75 percent of their net worth in a two-year period showed a 50 percent increased risk of dying over two decades compared to those who maintained positive wealth.

April 4, 2018

Money-back guarantees fail to boost cost-effectiveness of PCSK9 inhibitors

Outcomes-based pricing agreements would do little to help the poor cost-effectiveness of PCSK9 inhibitors. The event rates in preventive medicine are simply too low and medication costs too high for such a compromise to make a difference, a group from University of California, San Francisco reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

April 4, 2018