|
Strategies for Hospital CFOs to Tackle Bias in
Healthcare and Remain Profitable The healthcare sector is facing enormous pressure to reduce spending while improving care, and one of the biggest contributing factors to this excessive spending is health inequity. HealthLeaders, July 7, 2022 Eliminating small Marketplace premiums could increase insurance coverage There is considerable empirical evidence that requiring consumers to pay even very small health insurance premiums—as little as a few dollars per month (or less)—can meaningfully reduce enrollment. In light of this evidence, this analysis examines how many Health Insurance Marketplace enrollees currently pay very small premiums, how policymakers could eliminate those premiums if they wished to do so, and how those steps would affect insurance coverage, federal costs, and other outcomes of interest. Brookings, June 29, 2022 Children's Uninsurance Fell between 2019 and 2021, but Progress Could Stall The pandemic and associated job losses threatened to reduce employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and increase uninsurance among American families. Though such risks were higher for adults because of the long-standing generosity of public coverage policies for children, the severity and novelty of the pandemic also had the potential to exacerbate children's coverage losses that had occurred between 2016 and 2019 and to jeopardize decades of progress in reducing their uninsurance rate. Urban Institute, June 2022 Registered Nursing in Crisis Registered nursing faces a crisis. For over two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has stressed nurses, tested their skills and stamina, and exacerbated labor shortages. Each of these factors have significant implications for standards of patient care within America’s health care industry. Illinois Economic Policy Institute and Project for Middle Class Renewal, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, June 2022 Deloitte: US health care can't afford health inequities Inequities across the US health system limit underserved people’s access to affordable, high-quality care, create avoidable costs and financial waste that span society, and impact every individual’s potential to achieve health and well-being. Deloitte, June 22, 2022 Study Reveals Importance of Collaboration as FQHCs Tackle Inequities NextGen Healthcare, Inc., a leading provider of innovative, cloud-based healthcare technology solutions, announced findings of an independent study it commissioned with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) on their journey to deliver quality care to the underserved. The goal was to better understand the needs of FQHCs as they navigate common pressure points including: workforce shortages, increasing regulatory requirements, expansion of Medicaid, increased variability of patient populations, growth in services, and rapidly evolving payment models. BusinessWire, June 23, 2022 |
||
|
5 Ways CMS Could Focus
Efforts to Advance Health Equity 1. Improve Data Collection 2. Monitor the Impact of Payment Programs on Health Equity 3. Shift from Pay-for-Performance to Invest-for-Equity 4. Ensure Innovative Models Reach Under-resourced Communities 5. Align Incentives Across Programs Notes: From an article entitled, "Advancing Health Equity Through Federal Payment and Delivery System Reforms," by Ava Ferguson Bryan, Ciara Duggan and Thomas C. Tsai. Source: The Commonwealth Fund blog, June 15, 2022 |
|
|
 |
2022 WNYC Health Convening: A Look Inside Post-Pandemic Health
Care
WNYC's annual Health Convening, hosted on June
9th, 2022 by Health and Science Editor Nsikan Akpan and Health
Reporter Caroline Lewis on Zoom, featured health care experts
discussing long COVID, the state of the health care workforce
and how to deal with the worsening overdose epidemic. |
||
Check out
HealthshareTV, the
home for health care videos |
||||
|
Study Gauges Risk of Closure for Independent and
Affiliated Rural Hospitals For financially distressed rural hospitals, affiliations with other hospitals lower the risk of closure; but for financially stable rural hospitals, affiliations with other hospitals increase the risk of closure, a new research article found. HealthLeaders, July 5, 2022 How Much Health Insurers Pay for Almost Everything Is About to Go Public Consumers, employers, and just about everyone else interested in health care prices will soon get an unprecedented look at what insurers pay for care, perhaps helping answer a question that has long dogged those who buy insurance: Are we getting the best deal we can? As of July 1, health insurers and self-insured employers must post on websites just about every price they’ve negotiated with providers for health care services, item by item. Kaiser Health News, July 1, 2022 Using Technology to Get the Most Out of Community Health Needs Assessments CHRISTUS Health is looking to make a difference beyond the hospital walls by using technology to understand the social determinants of health and lived experiences of both patients and employees. As system vice president of community benefit, health equity, diversity, and inclusion at CHRISTUS Health, an international Catholic health system headquartered in Irving, Texas, Marcos Pesquera sees techology as an inflection point in the health of his community and employees. And an innovative, systemwide, community needs survey is helping the health system leverage data to understand the needs, assets, and lived realities of patients and employees to accelerate progress on health equity. HealthLeaders, June 29, 2022 HHS seeks feedback on strategies to bolster primary care The Biden administration has issued a request for comment on its plan to strengthen primary care across the country. Overall, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is pushing to build a "federal foundation" for primary care that drives better health outcomes and addresses equity. A fact sheet from the agency notes that primary care plays a critical part to address health priorities, but it is under-resourced and struggling with a shrinking workforce. Fierce Healthcare, June 28, 2022 Biden Administration Announces New Model to Improve Cancer Care Today, the Biden Administration, through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced a new model aimed at improving cancer care for Medicare patients and lowering health care costs. HHS, June 27, 2022 CMS approves first-ever public option plan for Colorado's ACA exchange Colorado can now create its own state-specific public option Affordable Care Act plan starting next year after getting key approval from the Biden administration. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) granted a Section 1332 state innovation waiver to create the state-specific health plan. It is the first state to get approval for a public option plan. Fierce Healthcare, June 23, 2022 Walmart expands health services to address racial inequality Walmart is expanding health care coverage for employees who want to enlist the services of a doula, a person trained to assist women during pregnancies, to address racial inequities in maternal care. After first offering doulas to employees in Georgia last year, the nation’s largest retailer said Wednesday that it will expand the same benefit to its employees in Louisiana, Indiana and Illinois. AP, June 22, 2022 |
| Subscribe to the Bulletin | Promotional Opportunities |
| Health
Change Bulletin, a publication of HealthExecWeek © 2022 |