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.

Abiomed, Biosense Webster, Cerenovus now all known as Johnson & Johnson MedTech

These companies were already part of the Johnson & Johnson family, but they had still retained their previous brand names. Now, each one is officially going by Johnson & Johnson MedTech.

Healthcare systems set up at the ACC.24 career fair in hopes of filling open positions, including a large and growing number of general cardiologist positions. Photo by Dave Fornell #ACC24 #ACC2024

Healthcare job growth slowing, down nearly 50% on the year

There were 31,000 new healthcare jobs added in August, a downward trend from the 60,000 average over the last 12 months.

Radiologists speak during Capitol Hill briefing on key breast imaging legislation

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., convened the hearing a day before new FDA breast density notification requirements were set to go into effect on Sept. 10.

American College of Radiology ‘strongly disagrees’ with making CMS payment model mandatory

The feds see this as a way of increasing specialist engagement in value-based care and bolstering their collaboration with PCPs and Medicare beneficiaries.

Biden administration aims to improve prior authorizations for mental health services

Announced Monday, modifications to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act would close loopholes that limit patient access to mental health and addiction treatments.

AMA warns of ‘growing gap’ between Medicare pay and cost of physician care

"We strongly urge CMS to acknowledge the negative effects of the proposed payment cut on Medicare beneficiaries in the final rule," the American Medical Association wrote in a comment letter shared Sept. 5.

AI-based, risk-stratified breast cancer screening program could save health system upward of $109M annually

Moving away from a "one size fits all" approach to one that targets women at greater risk of developing the disease could help the UK's NHS better allocate scarce screening resources, experts wrote.

Associated Radiologists becomes academic system’s new on-site imaging services provider

WVU Medicine Thomas Hospital announced the new partnership on after ARI recently acquired its former partner, Kanawha Valley Radiologists, based in Charleston, W.V.

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