Grocery Delivery Service Instacart Expands Its Health Partnerships
The goal is to enhance patient access to nutritious food and promote a healthy lifestyle, Becker's Hospital Review explains. Among other news items, the process for settling billing disputes between insurers and providers is still a mess.
Becker's Hospital Review:
How Instacart Is Delivering The Next Healthcare Disruption
Grocery delivery company Instacart is expanding its number of partnerships with hospitals and health systems to incorporate medical expertise and benefits into their services, aiming to enhance patient access to nutritious food and promote a healthy lifestyle. Instacart launched its Instacart Health initiative in September 2022 and has since partnered with Boston Children's Hospital; Orange, Calif.-based Alignment Healthcare; Mount Sinai Solutions; and Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente. (Talaga, 10/11)
Axios:
Surprise Billing Arbitration Is Still A Mess
Nearly two years after a surprise medical bill ban took effect, the process for settling billing disputes between insurers and providers is still mired in litigation and many cases remain unresolved. Uncertainty around how providers get paid for disputed out-of-network services isn't likely to ease as multiple challenges to the Biden administration arbitration rules continue to work through the courts. (Goldman, 10/12)
New Mexico In Depth:
Lawmakers Tackled New Mexico’s Crisis Of Rural Health Care Workers. It Wasn’t Enough
New Mexico has a severe shortage of healthcare workers, particularly in the state’s rural and frontier areas, where a third of the state’s 2.1 million people live. Lawmakers and the governor invested millions to close the gap earlier this year, but advocates say it’s not enough. “We don’t have enough doctors anywhere in New Mexico, but especially in rural New Mexico,” said. Dr. Mario Pacheco. (Childress, 10/11)
KFF Health News:
‘I’m So Burned Out’: Fighting To See A Specialist Amplified Pain For Riverside County Woman
Teresa Johnson can’t escape the pain. It’s as if she’s getting pierced by needles all over her body, all at once. At night, she sometimes jolts out of sleep thinking bedbugs are attacking her. But it’s just the unfailing pain — day in and day out. Johnson, 58, said her ordeal started in September 2022, when she went for a CT scan of her abdomen after a bout of covid-19. Though Johnson warned the lab she was allergic to iodine, she believes the lab tech used it in an injection, triggering an allergic reaction. She spent the next three weeks in the hospital, feeling as if her body was on fire. (Castle Work, 10/12)
In corporate news —
WUSF:
BayCare Announces Plans To Replace St. Joseph's Children's Hospital In Tampa
BayCare has announced plans to build a new children's hospital in Tampa by 2030. The nonprofit hospital system will replace St. Joseph's Children's Hospital with a state-of-the-art facility on the same campus. The children's hospital has seen its patient numbers grow over the past few years creating a "pivotal point for pediatrics," according to Sarah Naumowich, president of St. Joseph's Children's and St. Joseph's Women's hospitals. (Bowman, 10/11)
Modern Healthcare:
Blue Cross Of Michigan, Vermont Complete Merger
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has finalized its deal to acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, the companies announced Wednesday. The insurers will maintain separate headquarters, boards of directors and workforces and will continue to be led by the same executives under the non-cash deal. The combined entity will have 5.4 million members. (Berryman, 10/11)
Modern Healthcare:
Presbyterian Healthcare, UnityPoint Health Call Off Merger Plans
Presbyterian Healthcare Services and UnityPoint Health have ended their merger plans, the nonprofit health systems said Wednesday. Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Presbyterian and Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint had planned to form a roughly $11 billion system with 48 hospitals in Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico and Wisconsin. The organizations announced the signing of a letter of intent to merge on March 2 and a definitive agreement on March 30. (Kacik, 10/11)
The CT Mirror:
Yale Seeks State Funding, Lower Price For Prospect Medical Hospitals
Yale New Haven Health has asked the state to provide financial assistance in its acquisition of three Connecticut hospitals recently hit with a debilitating cyberattack, and for Prospect Medical Holdings, which owns the hospitals, to lower the $435 million purchase price. (Carlesso and Altimari, 10/11)
Modern Healthcare:
Envision Healthcare Bankruptcy Reorganization Gets Court OK
Envision Healthcare plans to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month, the physician staffing company announced Wednesday. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved a reorganization plan for Envision Healthcare that will eliminate 70% of its funded debt. The for-profit company expects to finalize the transaction within weeks, according to a news release. (Hudson, 10/11)
Modern Healthcare:
Humana CEO Bruce Broussard To Step Down In 2024
Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard will end his tenure at the health insurance company after 13 years, Humana announced Wednesday. Broussard will hand over the reins to Envision Healthcare President and CEO Jim Rechtin next year. Rechtin will assume the roles of president and chief operating officer on Jan. 8, then take over as CEO during the second half of 2024, according to a news release. After stepping down as chief executive, Broussard will be a strategic advisor to the company into 2025, the company said. Humana did not respond to an interview request. (Berryman, 10/11)
Stat:
Wellcome Trust Names Rottingen As Its New CEO
The Wellcome Trust — the world’s second largest private funder of biomedical research — announced on Wednesday that Norwegian scientist and public health official John-Arne Røttingen has been appointed its new CEO. (Joseph, 10/11)
