Avicenna Medical Blog

Care Management Weekly News Update 3/19/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Mar 19, 2025 @ 11:30 AM

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has given a federal court the clearest look yet at the number of probationary workers fired under the Trump administration, and how many have been reinstated so far, but fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employees say they have still not been contacted or provided a status update on their...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 3/13/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Thu, Mar 13, 2025 @ 11:30 AM

Oracle's federal electronic health record system experience a widespread outage on Tuesday March 4 that impacted VA medical facilities across the country, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. All users of Oracle's federal EHR, including those at VA, Department of Defense, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sites,...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 3/5/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Mar 05, 2025 @ 11:30 AM

Over the last year, 18 rural hospitals closed or converted to an operating model that excludes inpatient care, according to a new analysis from the Chartis Center for Rural Health. That brings the total number of closures since 2010 to 182. During this week’s Value-Based Payment Summit, Janice Walters, M.S.H.A., executive director of the Rural Health Care Redesign Center in Harrisburg,...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 2/26/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Feb 26, 2025 @ 11:45 AM

Less than a week after reports surfaced that the Justice Department was investigating UnitedHealth Group for billing practices in Medicare Advantage, a key senator is also putting pressure on the company. The Wall Street JournalreportedTuesday that Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter to UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty pushing for a detailed look at how the company handles billing in...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 2/19/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Feb 19, 2025 @ 11:30 AM

The opening session at the ViVE conference, taking place this week at Nashville’s Music City Center, on Feb. 17, had speakers acknowledging the complex and challenging policy and operational landscape around healthcare information technology adoption, along with statements strongly affirming the role of advancing technology promising to help clinicians and patient care organizations deliver...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 2/12/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Feb 12, 2025 @ 12:22 PM

The US Department of Veterans Affairs has restarted a project to implement Oracle electronic health records in its hospitals after the project was suspended in 2023. The new payments relate toa $300 million agreementfor optimization of the electronic health records (EHR) management system anda $29 million dealfor identity and access management support and enhancement, published...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 2/6/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Thu, Feb 06, 2025 @ 11:45 AM

In 2022, the Biden Administration enacted the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a sweeping piece of legislation aimed at reducing healthcare costs. Among its most significant provisions was the ability for Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, a move that was hailed as a potential game-changer for lowering healthcare expenses. While the immediate effects of the IRA’s...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 1/29/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Jan 29, 2025 @ 11:30 AM

Though not quite reaching 2023’s highs, healthcare bankruptcies remained elevated across 2024 with a six-year high among physician practices as well as “the largest hospital sector bankruptcy by far in the last 30 years,” according to new research from Gibbins Advisors. The restructuring advisory firm’s Thursday report outlined 57 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings among...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 1/22/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Jan 22, 2025 @ 11:30 AM

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) will recommend Congress bump Medicare pay rates for hospitals in 2026. In a public meeting held Thursday, the group’s commissioners voted in favor of draft recommendations to increase general acute care hospitals’ base payment rates by the amount specified in current law plus an additional 1%. Such an increase would apply to inpatient and...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 1/15/25

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Jan 15, 2025 @ 11:45 AM

The pharmaceutical supply chain is a sector infamous for glacially slow adjustments, lackluster reform, lack of transparency and massive anti-competitive conglomerates. Years of dominance by the three major vertically integrated pharmacy benefit managers that control the bulk of the market have placed great strain on the healthcare industry. However, a recent confluence of events marks...
Read More