Oversight Of Health Transactions Is Ramping Up As States Monitor Buyouts
Stat covers increased state scrutiny over industry transactions as more provider groups seek buyers: Oregon is said to be at the forefront of the oversight push. Separately, the FTC is reportedly eager to make "Big Physician" smaller by examining private equity's role in medical industry consolidations.
Stat:
States Are Ramping Up Scrutiny Of Health Transactions, As More Provider Groups Look For Buyers
Oregon is at the forefront of the push for more scrutiny; it already has some of the strongest health care market oversight laws in the nation. But state legislatures in Illinois, Minnesota, and New York approved similar oversight programs last year, meaning deals in those states will start getting more scrutiny soon. And five more states, Vermont, Washington, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and New Mexico, are already looking at legislation to start or expand their own programs. It doesn’t necessarily mean the deals won’t happen, experts cautioned. In Oregon, for example, where Optum is trying to buy the 100-provider Corvallis Clinic, the oversight has mostly served as a way for the public to raise concerns, and for the state to get more insight into the group’s activities. But it gives states and the public new and valuable insight into their health care landscape, experts told STAT. (Trang, 2/12)
Stat:
FTC Sends Signal To Private Equity On Medical Firm Consolidations
Lina Khan’s Federal Trade Commission is eager to make Big Physician a lot smaller. Last September, the FTC sued private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and U.S. Anesthesia Partners, alleging the two parties conspired to create monopolies for anesthesia services. Both Welsh Carson and USAP have tried to get the case thrown out, but the FTC recently doubled down. (Herman, 2/12)
Minnesota Public Radio:
University Of Minnesota Moving To Reacquire Medical Center From Fairview Health Services
The University of Minnesota is pursuing a plan to reacquire its Twin Cities campus health care facilities from Fairview Health Services. The University of Minnesota Regents on Friday voted to support a nonbinding letter of intent with Fairview to regain ownership of the U’s teaching hospital by the end of 2027. (2/9)
In other health industry news —
Modern Healthcare:
Amazon's One Medical To Close Offices, Move CFO To New Role
Corporate office space is the latest expense on the chopping block at Amazon's One Medical, which announced layoffs earlier this week. One Medical will close offices in New York City, Minneapolis and St. Petersburg, Florida, by the end of the month, according to a Thursday report from Business Insider which cited a leaked internal email from One Medical’s CEO Trent Green. The primary care provider is also downsizing its San Francisco office to one floor, the report said. (Hudson, 2/9)
Houston Chronicle:
MD Anderson Cancer Researcher Alleges Scientist Took Credit For Work
A junior faculty member at MD Anderson Cancer Center has accused a high-profile scientist of improperly taking credit for research and making false, defamatory statements that damaged her career, according to a lawsuit filed in Harris County. The suit, filed in August and first reported Thursday by STAT News, represents an unusual public clash at one of the world’s leading cancer research hubs. (Gill and MacDonald, 2/9)
Modern Healthcare:
AI Chatbots Used By Franciscan, Vivian Health For Job Recruitment
Chatbot vendors see growing demand for automation in clinician recruitment as health systems begin to use AI more broadly for both administrative and patient-facing tasks. Potential employees often work long, odd hours as clinicians, and that can pose challenges for health systems looking to recruit more staff. Chatbots—automated computer programs that simulate conversation—allow hospitals to reach out to job candidates and conveniently answer questions, which can streamline the hiring process and expand applicant pools. (Devereaux, 2/9)
Stat:
To Avoid Data Mishandling Cases, Universities Eye AI And Other Tools
There was a time when an allegation of data mishandling, scientific misconduct, or just a technical error felt like a crisis to Barrett Rollins, an oncologist and research integrity officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Now, it’s a Tuesday. (Chen and Wosen, 2/12)
KFF Health News:
GoFundMe Has Become A Health Care Utility
GoFundMe started as a crowdfunding site for underwriting “ideas and dreams,” and, as GoFundMe’s co-founders, Andrew Ballester and Brad Damphousse, once put it, “for life’s important moments.” In the early years, it funded honeymoon trips, graduation gifts, and church missions to overseas hospitals in need. Now GoFundMe has become a go-to platform for patients trying to escape medical billing nightmares. One study found that, in 2020, the annual number of U.S. campaigns related to medical causes — about 200,000 — was 25 times the number of such campaigns on the site in 2011. More than 500 current campaigns are dedicated to asking for financial help for treating people, mostly kids, who have spinal muscular atrophy, a neurodegenerative genetic condition. The recently approved gene therapy for young children with the condition, by the drugmaker Novartis, has a price tag of about $2.1 million for the single-dose treatment. (Rosenthal, 2/12)
