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.

Stroke patient billed $474K for medical flight

A 34-year-old stroke patient was stuck with a bill for nearly a half-million dollars after taking a flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Boston to see a neurosurgeon.

Federal rule to increase price transparency of medical services, including imaging

A new federal law proposed by CMS took effect on Jan. 1, requiring hospitals to publish online price lists for medical imaging and all other services they provide, according to a recent report by Newsweek.

Polar Plunge raises 30K for cancer research

More than 200 people braved the waters of the chilly Boulder County Reservoir in an effort to raise money for the American Cancer Society for the 37th annual Polar Plunge. Participants raised a total of $30,000 during the event.

Top AI, clinical innovation stories of 2018

Here are AI in Healthcare’s top 10 AI and clinical innovation stories from 2018.

Apple promotes Giannandrea to SVP of machine learning, AI strategy

John Giannandrea has been named Apple’s senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, the company announced Thursday.

Software developer that offers conversational AI acquired for $1B

Minnesota-based multinational conglomerate 3M has acquired speech recognition software developer M*Modal for $1 billion, according to a report by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. M*Modal provides healthcare technology and conversational AI-powered systems for transcribing doctors’ verbal notes.

5 challenges deep learning faces in medicine

Though the use of deep-learning techniques has the potential to change several areas of medicine, the technology faces numerous challenges before it can be applied more broadly, according to a viewpoint article published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

MITA applauds 12 governors advocating for permanent medical device tax repeal

The Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance (MITA) applauded 12 U.S. governors for writing a letter strongly encouraging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, to permanently repeal the medical device tax before the end of the year.

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