Healthcare Spending

Bipartisan Bill Addresses Distribution Delays in Provider Relief Fund

by Sarai Rodriguez

A group of Representatives have announced the Provider Relief Improvement Act to ensure that the remaining dollars left in the Provider Relief will be distributed to eligible healthcare providers in...

HFMA Annual: Finance Leaders Need to Change the Culture of Medicine

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Healthcare finance leaders can help to fix a broken healthcare system—one in which costs are high and outcomes are poor—by changing the culture of medicine, according to Robert Pearl, MD,...

Analysis: 10 Most Cost-Efficient Hospitals in the US

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Pinnacle Hospital in Indiana, Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Nevada, and Mercy Medical Center Dubuque in Iowa are among the most cost-efficient hospitals in the US, according to a new...

Hospital Service Lines Shift After Private Equity Acquisition

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Private equity’s increased involvement in healthcare has raised some questions, but a new study in Health Affairs shows how private equity in healthcare is impacting service lines at acute care...

Healthcare Expenses Continue to Rise, While Hospital Volumes Decline

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Healthcare expenses continue to rise across the board as both hospitals and physician groups deal with pandemic-related impacts on financial performance, according to two new reports from healthcare...

Higher Healthcare Utilization, Intensity Drive Healthcare Spending

by Victoria Bailey

Increased utilization and intensity of healthcare services are the top driving factors of healthcare spending growth, a report from the American Hospital Association (AHA) revealed. The COVID-19...

Nearly $27B Remains in Provider Relief Fund, Analysis Shows

by Jacqueline LaPointe

There are still tens of billions of dollars sitting the Provider Relief Fund, a pool of grants specifically for healthcare providers who have reported or are still experiencing pandemic-related losses...

COVID-19 Hospitalizations Can Cost Over $100K, If Out of Network

by Jacqueline LaPointe

When delivered outside of a patient’s network, COVID-19 hospitalizations can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on where a patient is a treated. California was the most expensive...

Patient Financial Engagement Technology Going Beyond Collections

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Patient financial engagement technology is being used for more than just processing payments, and providers are seeing revenue improvements as a result, according to a new KLAS report. Early adopters...

Clinical Labor Costs Increased by $24B During Pandemic

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Hospitals and health systems are spending about 8 percent more per patient day on clinical labor costs compared to pre-pandemic times, according to a recent analysis from Premier Inc. For the average...

Air Ambulance Prices Rose Substantially for Commercially Insured

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The price for air ambulance transports has risen substantially over the past couple of years, especially for commercially insured patients, according to a recent FAIR Health analysis. The analysis...

Hospital Groups Challenge FTC Opposition to NJ Hospital Merger

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Leading hospital groups have backed a proposed hospital merger deal between two New Jersey-based non-profit systems, arguing that a federal challenge of the proposed merger is based on a flawed...

Complex COVID-19 Hospitalizations Cost an Average of $300K

by Victoria Bailey

COVID-19 hospitalizations can cost up to $318,000, according to new cost estimates from FAIR Health. The FAIR Health Total Treatment Cost COVID-19 benchmarks account for the costs incurred by COVID-19...

High Healthcare Spending Shifts to Uninsured, Prescription Drugs

by Victoria Bailey

In nearly two decades, the overall concentration of healthcare spending has remained steady, but there has been an increase in the concentration of prescription drug spending, according to a study in...

The Impact the Unvaccinated Are Having on Healthcare Spending

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The impact the unvaccinated population is having on healthcare spending is significant, according to a new analysis from Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). There were approximately 287,000 preventable...

HHS Announces Plan to Distribute $25.5B in COVID-19 Provider Relief

by Jacqueline LaPointe

HHS will distribute $25.5 billion in COVID-19 provider funding, including $8.5 billion from the American Rescue Plan for rural providers and a fourth round of general Provider Relief Fund distribution...

Revenue-Based COVID-19 Funds Failed to Help Some Hospitals in Need

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Congress allocated $178 billion to the Provider Relief Fund to help hospitals overcome the financial and operational challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the primary distribution method for the aid...

Updated Study From AHA Shows Hospital Mergers Saving Millions

by Victoria Bailey

The American Hospital Association (AHA) reaffirmed its previous findings that hospital mergers and acquisitions result in reduced healthcare costs and improve care quality. In 2019, the AHA published...

Healthcare Spending, Utilization Remain Low in 2021

by Jill McKeon

Healthcare spending and utilization dropped significantly at the onset of COVID-19 as more people pushed off care. New data from Peterson-KFF’s Health System Tracker show that spending and...

Preventable COVID-19 Hospitalizations Cost Health System Over $2B

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Vaccines could have prevented hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 hospitalizations and billions of dollars, a new analysis from the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker reveals. The analysis estimated...