Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study Finds Vast Disparities In Hospital Pricing For Medical Scans
The Wall Street Journal: Some Hospitals Charge Up To 10 Times More For Medical Scans Than Others, Study Finds
Some hospitals charge up to 10 times as much as others for standard medical scans, according to the latest analysis of previously secret market rates. Median prices for taking images of the brain, legs, abdomen and chest differed across hospitals by thousands of dollars in some cases, a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins and Michigan State universities reported Tuesday in the journal Radiology. Their analysis compared median commercial prices among hospitals that complied with new federal rules this year to make rates public. (Evans, 11/30)
Modern Healthcare: Health Systems Reconfigure Workforce Amid Shortages
Hospital labor costs continue to rise as nurses seek higher pay, requiring providers to reconfigure their workforce. Total labor expenses rose 12.6% from October 2020 to October 2021, and 14.8% from October 2019 to October 2021, according to Kaufman Hall's analysis of around 900 hospitals. Full-time equivalents per adjusted bed decreased 4.5% year over year while labor expense per adjusted discharge increased 16.3%, suggesting higher salaries prompted by nationwide labor shortages are driving up labor expenses rather than increased staffing levels, the report concluded. (Kacik, 11/30)
Modern Healthcare: HCA To Build More Hospitals In Florida
HCA Healthcare continues to expand its Florida footprint with the addition of three acute-care hospitals. The new facilities will include a 90-bed hospital in Gainesville, a 60-bed hospital near the Villages and a 100-bed hospital in Fort Myers, the Nashville, Tennessee-based company's Florida division announced on Tuesday. Construction is expected to begin next year. (Devereaux, 11/30)
The Wall Street Journal: 23andMe Earmarks Cash From SPAC Deal For Drug Development
23andMe plans to deploy the cash from its SPAC deal largely to fund ongoing investments into drug discovery, Chief Financial Officer Steve Schoch said. After years of selling at-home tests, the company created a therapeutics division six years ago, aiming to use its massive database of genetic information to identify new treatments. The database had information from about 11.9 million consumers as of Sept. 30. By querying its database, 23andMe can find causal links between genetic variations and diseases and use that information to develop new treatments, Mr. Schoch said. Among its findings so far: evidence of genetic variants that bolster the immune system and decrease the risk of cancer. (Broughton, 11/30)
