News Briefs
House Committee Approves Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024
A House committee voted to advance a bill that would extend telehealth flexibilities in Medicare for another two years. The legislation, called the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024, passed unanimously in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, sending the bill to the House floor to await consideration.
(Source: Healthcare Dive, 2024-09-20)
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High Court Could Take on Nursing Home Staffing Mandate Challenge
A lawsuit challenging the federal staffing mandate for nursing homes could be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court as early as its fast-approaching session, according to a judicial preview from the AARP Foundation. The foundation's preview said legal experts expect the staffing regulation lawsuit to move quickly through the lower courts.
(Source: McKnight's Long-Term Care News, 2024-09-22)
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FTC Sues PBMs for Anticompetitive Practices, Price Increases
The Federal Trade Commission said that it had taken legal action against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers, accusing the drug middlemen of inflating insulin prices and steering patients toward higher-cost insulin products to increase their profits. The legal action targets CVS Health's Caremark, Cigna's Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth's Optum Rx and subsidiaries they've created to handle drug negotiations, agency officials said.
(Source: The New York Times, 2024-09-20)
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Appeals Court Revives Lawsuit Challenging Drug Price Negotiations
A U.S. appeals court revived a lawsuit by healthcare and drug industry groups challenging the first-ever U.S. law requiring pharmaceutical companies to negotiate drug prices with the government's Medicare health insurance program that covers 66 million people. The case is one of at least eight lawsuits seeking to block the program.
(Source: Reuters, 2024-09-20)
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Cyber Issues Have Hospitals Shifting Supply Chain Management
Cybersecurity leaders at major health systems and leading health insurers say they are now keenly focused on building more a resilient healthcare ecosystem rather than just reacting to threats, but that effort requires more collaboration across the industry, including public-private partnerships. It also requires a shift in how companies manage their supply chains.
(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2024-09-19)
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Study Finds Doctors Spend Less Time on EHRs When Helped by AI
Artificial intelligence programs have potential to help physicians and other clinicians reduce the amount of time spent logging patient information in electronic health records. A new study found family medicine, internal medicine, and general pediatrics doctors and advanced practice practitioners reported spending less time on EHRs when trained on and aided by an AI-powered clinical documentation tool.
(Source: Medical Economics, 2024-09-18)
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HRSA Awards $100 Million to Grow National Healthcare Workforce
The Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, has announced nearly $100 million in awards to grow the national healthcare workforce and improve access in high-need areas. Launched last year, the initiative is intended to ensure a ready supply of healthcare workers in the U.S., and to invest in recruiting, training, and support.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2024-09-19)
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Fed Interest Rate Cut Likely to Impact Hospice M&A
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.5 percent, which will likely have an impact on hospice M&A. Interest rates have widespread implications for the hospice mergers and acquisitions market, particularly when it comes to private equity investments.
(Source: Hospice News, 2024-09-19)
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Despite Confusing Rules, Healthcare Interoperability Advancing
Interoperability has been a longstanding goal for healthcare: The promise of being able to exchange data seamlessly between health information networks has been a goal the industry has been working toward for years, and now payers and healthcare organizations have to wrangle with rules, passed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, governing how such exchanges will occur. There's a sense of confusion around the rules, but also a sense of optimism, as advances in technology have brought the healthcare industry closer to true interoperability.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2024-09-19)
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Healthcare Consolidation Contributing to Physician Burnout
According to a survey of more than 1,700 physicians, residents, and medical students, burnout is tied to multiple factors, including mental health stigma in the medical field as well as how private equity acquisitions are changing healthcare. Respondents said changes in the healthcare environment fueled by acquisitions, mergers, and private equity are contributing to the burnout crisis.
(Source: MedPage Today, 2024-09-19)
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New Federal Program Helping Rural Hospitals Stay Open
As of August, hospitals in 32 communities around the country have converted to the rural emergency hospital designation to prevent closure. The new program provides a federal financial boost for struggling hospitals that keep offering emergency and outpatient services but halt inpatient care.
(Source: KFF Health News, 2024-09-20)
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