After long deliberation, the FDA has expanded access to abortion pills, allowing retail pharmacies to distribute the medication. By Veronica Salib January 04, 2023 – In a step towards widening access, the FDA made a regulatory change, allowing the abortion pill, mifepristone, to be distributed by retail pharmacies with a valid prescription. Mifepristone is one of two medications taken during a medication […]

Advanced practice provider compensation is growing rapidly as organizations face ongoing staff shortages and other healthcare workforce challenges.  By Jacqueline LaPointe January 04, 2023 – As healthcare organizations face a workforce crisis, they have to be more competitive to attract and retain advanced practice providers, including nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). Median total cash compensation for

The 2022 NPRM would “partially rescind” a 2019 rule loosening religious nondiscrimination rules, which critics said worsened patient care access for marginalized groups.  By Sara Heath January 04, 2023 – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is making moves to reverse a 2019 rule that expanded religious nondiscrimination and moral conscience protections. The agency said this latest action

The hospital-at-home model has grown in popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling healthcare organizations to provide acute-level care in patient homes and expanding needed access to care. December 28, 2022 – Though providing hospital-level care at home is not a new concept, the popularity of such programs grew during the COVID-19 pandemic.  As cases of the deadly

Value-based care has emerged as an alternative and potential replacement for fee-for-service reimbursement based on quality rather than quantity. March 02, 2022 – Value-based care is a form of reimbursement that ties payments for care delivery to the quality of care provided and rewards providers for both efficiency and effectiveness. This form of reimbursement has emerged as

The proposed data standards aim to create a consistent framework to support the needs for electronic health data sharing, including healthcare claims, prior authorization transactions, and signatures.  By Sarai Rodriguez December 21, 2022 – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have proposed a new rule to implement data standards, which

By Lars Hartenstein and Tom Latkovic The blueprint to achieve a lifetime of great health is increasingly clear and within our control. But unlocking it requires challenging the orthodoxies currently guiding individuals and institutions. Each day, millions of well-intended healthcare professionals, scientists, and public health officials work diligently to improve our health.1 Their work has had a profoundly positive impact

By Greg Jasani Dec. 8, 2022 Doctors across the country, especially those in primary care, have been up in arms about Medicare’s proposed cuts in reimbursement that are scheduled to go into effect on January 1. They are concerned — rightfully so — that these cuts will be ruinous to their practices and compromise the care they can