Physician Staffing Firm NES Health Folds, The Third To Fail In Recent Years
Also in health industry news: Pontiac General Hospital files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; health systems are hiring doctors from PE-backed firms; and more.
MedPage Today:
Another Emergency Medicine Staffing Firm Goes Under
NES Health, the staffing firm that drew attention recently for not paying its doctors, says it will "wind down its operations and cease doing business," according to a company email shared on social media. Doctors who worked for the company may be out several months of pay, and NES said it won't provide malpractice tail coverage either, according to the email. ... NES Health is the third physician staffing firm in recent years to shutter. (Fiore, 11/26)
CBS News:
Pontiac General Hospital Files For Bankruptcy After Announcing Medicare Funding Loss, Layoffs
Pontiac General Hospital has filed for bankruptcy days after announcing the loss of Medicare funding and announcing over 240 layoffs. According to a court document, the hospital, located on 461 W. Huron St., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Saturday. The document shows the hospital has between $1 million and $10 million in assets, owes somewhere between $1 million and $10 million and has between 50 and 99 creditors. (Lentz, 11/26)
Modern Healthcare:
Private Equity Staffing Companies Losing Physicians To Providers
Health systems are hiring specialists from private equity-backed companies as hospitals look to reduce costs by cutting out staffing agencies while easing staff shortages. Higher pay and the prospect of less administrative work have allowed health systems to hire an increasing number of specialists from private equity-backed staffing firms and independent clinics, industry observers said. Health system executives said they plan to directly employ more physicians to combat persistent gaps in specialty care without relying on staffing agencies. (Kacik, 11/26)
Modern Healthcare:
Prospect Medical Holdings Approved To Sell CharterCare Hospitals
Rhode Island's Director of Health Dr. Jerry Larkin signed off on Prospect Medical Holdings' pending sale of two CharterCare hospitals to the Centurion Foundation. On Monday, Larkin accepted the state Health Services Council's recommendation to approve the sale, which involves Providence-based Roger Williams Medical Center and North Providence-based Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, according to a news release from the Rhode Island Department of Health. (Hudson, 11/26)
Modern Healthcare:
Community Health Systems, WoodBridge End $120M Deal
Community Health Systems scrapped a $120 million deal to sell three Pennsylvania hospitals and related facilities to WoodBridge Healthcare. CHS and WoodBridge mutually decided to dissolve the agreement Friday due to WoodBridge's inability to satisfy funding requirements, according to a Tuesday news release. Investment banking firm Zeigler was unable to sell the bonds needed to fund the acquisition, despite earlier indications of confidence in the bond sales, WoodBridge said in a separate release. (Hudson, 11/26)
On the high cost of health care —
Modern Healthcare:
Medicare Advantage Proposal Targets Prior Authorization, GLP-1s
Medicare Advantage insurers would no longer be allowed to reconsider approved prior authorization requests for inpatient hospital admissions and face new limits on using artificial intelligence for precertifications under a proposed rule issued Tuesday. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services draft regulation also would introduce Medicare and Medicaid coverage of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1s, such as Ozempic and Zepbound, to treat obesity as a chronic disease. (Early, 11/26)
KFF Health News:
A Toddler Got A Nasal Swab Test But Left Before Seeing A Doctor. The Bill Was $445
Ryan Wettstein Nauman was inconsolable one evening last December. After being put down for bed, the 3-year-old from Peoria, Illinois, just kept crying and crying and crying, and nothing would calm her down. Her mother, Maggi Wettstein, remembered fearing it could be a yeast or urinary tract infection, something they had been dealing with during potty training. The urgent care centers around them were closed for the night, so around 10:30 p.m. she decided to take Ryan to the emergency room at Carle Health. (Sable-Smith, 11/27)
