Hospitals Recognized For Making Progress In Price Transparency

RevCycle Intelligence: Hospitals, Health Systems Recognized For Price Transparency Compliance
Fifteen hospitals and health systems have been recognized for their compliance with the federal price transparency regulations. (Bailey, 8/24)

Chicago Tribune: Chicago Hospitals Awarded Distinctions For Price Transparency
Several Chicago-area hospitals have been honored for excellence in price transparency two and a half years after a set of federal transparency guidelines went into effect. Rush University Medical Center was one of 10 hospitals nationwide to receive the inaugural Price Transparency Champion Award, honoring medical systems going above and beyond to keep price estimates accessible and upfront. (Arougheti, 9/5)

More hospital news —

The Boston Globe: Brockton Hospital Closure Means Long Wait Times For Residents
The prolonged closure of Brockton Hospital, which is expected to last into next year, has disrupted life in this diverse city, leaving many residents scrambling to find providers, traveling farther for care, and waiting longer to be seen. The hospital closure has overwhelmed nearby emergency rooms and behavioral health clinics with an influx of new patients. The shutdown has also affected local businesses and forced displaced health care workers to look for new jobs. (Mohammed, 9/3)

The Boston Globe: They Never Asked For A Private Hospital Room. But Now They’re Being Charged $5,000 For One
So began a dizzying, months-long effort by Cheryl to simply find out the reason for the $5,040 charge. And when she finally unraveled it, she was totally taken aback by the hospital’s reason for billing them. It turns out that Saint Vincent had billed the Farrells’ health insurer for the cost of a private room, but the insurer paid the hospital only the lower cost of a semiprivate room. Hence, the $5,040 balance. (Murphy, 9/5)

In other health care news —

Los Angeles Times: Healthcare Workers With Kaiser Permanente Rally For New Contract
A Labor Day demonstration that blocked part of Sunset Boulevard led to the peaceful arrest of roughly two dozen people protesting Kaiser Permanente’s labor practices in front of the HMO’s medical center in Hollywood. ... The protest is part of an ongoing dispute between the Oakland-based HMO and a coalition of unions representing roughly 40% of its workforce. (Purtill, 9/4)

Modern Healthcare: Amazon Partners Hello Alpha, SteadyMD Find Opportunity On Platform
The four companies delivering care on Amazon Clinic say joining the direct-to-consumer telehealth marketplace hasn't forced them to rewrite their business plans. Amazon Clinic, the tech giant’s direct-to-consumer telehealth marketplace, offers both asynchronous and synchronous care for non-urgent medical conditions such as urinary tract infections and seasonal allergies through third-party companies. Amazon launched the offering in November 2022. (Turner, 9/1)

Stat: How Generative AI Is Inspiring Dreams Of A Health Data Revolution 
The world’s largest technology companies are racing to build generative AI into every corner of health and medicine. Microsoft has formed an alliance with the electronic health records vendor Epic to wire the technology into dozens of health software products. Google is infusing it into tools used by hospitals to collect and organize data on millions of patients. Not to be outdone, Amazon has unveiled a service to help build clinical note scribes, and is separately working to embed generative AI in drug research and development. (Ross and Palmer, 9/5)

North Carolina Health News: NC Researchers See A Pathway To An AIDS-Free World
Across the globe, scientists, doctors, public health practitioners and community-centered groups are continuing their work to combat the transmission of HIV. And they’re turning the tide against the disease. (Storrow, 9/1)

Charlotte Ledger: Where Have All The Psychiatrists Gone?
When a South Charlotte mom was looking for a psychiatrist to prescribe medication for her teenage daughter’s depression last year, she described sitting with her phone and going down the list of doctors listed as in network with her insurance company. Some weren’t taking new patients. Others never returned her messages. And a few said their first appointment was months away. After more than 25 calls, she finally found a practice able to schedule an appointment for her daughter that month. (Crouch, 9/5)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': 3 Health Policy Experts You Should Know 
In this special episode, host Julie Rovner, KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, interviews three noted health policy experts. (8/31)

Also —

The Washington Post: Doctors Left Dinner-Plate-Sized Tool In Woman After C-Section, Report Says
A New Zealand woman visited multiple doctors for help with severe abdominal pain after having a Caesarean section in 2020. But when she underwent a CT scan about a year later, doctors had no problem identifying the cause of her agony, according to a new report. The scan found that during the woman’s C-section, doctors had left a piece of equipment about the size of a dinner plate in her abdomen, the report alleges. About 18 months after the woman’s original procedure, doctors removed an Alexis wound retractor — a soft, round plastic device that retracts the edges of an incision during surgery — from the woman’s abdomen, the report states. (Melnick, 9/5)