Sens. Dick Durbin and Mike Braun have introduced legislation to crack down on deceptive online promotions of prescription drugs by telehealth firms and social media influencers. 

Remote employment is increasingly offered at health systems as a way to support telehealth visits, in-person caregivers and administrative work.

Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine has named Nadia Hansel, MD, physician-in-chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. She has also been appointed director of the Department of Medicine, making her the first woman to hold that position in the department's 131-year history.

Accountable care organizations, or ACOs, are physician- and health system-led groups that ascertain and apply savings in healthcare delivery. These organizations often work in partnership with Medicare programs, while also providing care for private insurance patients. 

While many hospitals are continuing to see margin improvements, other facilities continue to face financial setbacks related to cost and workforce challenges, among others, ultimately leading to service cuts and closures. 

The John Hopkins Howard County Medical Center Foundation launched a new campaign to raise $3 million to expand its behavioral health unit in Columbia, Md. 

Physicians surveyed by McKinsey shared insights on the workforce shortage, including changes that could be made to encourage them to remain with their current healthcare organization.

Revenue cycle automation platform Candid Health raised $29 million in Series B funding. 

Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates is under investigation after allegations that it tried to pressure its personnel to retrieve organs from a hospital patient who was awake and later left the facility alive, The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 11.

UTHealth Houston is entering into a partnership with OpenAI, the organization that developed ChatGPT.

The following hospital and health system executive moves have been shared with or reported by Becker's this year:

Massachusetts had the highest flu vaccination rate in the U.S. during the 2022-23 flu season, according to a Sept. 11 analysis by WalletHub.

The rising cost of care, growing Medicare Advantage pain points, and frustrations over not receiving appropriate or timely payments from commercial insurers are key factors driving health systems to take a tougher stance in contract renewal negotiations.

University of Illinois Chicago's pharmacy school was gifted a $36 million endowment gift from the estate of late Chicago pharmacy owners Herbert and Carol Retzky, the Chicago Tribune reported Sept. 13. 

A number of healthcare organizations have recently closed medical departments or ended services at facilities to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or address staffing shortages.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Beth Israel Lahey Health has postponed the closure of Exeter (N.H.) Hospital's advanced life support paramedic intercept program after intervention from the New Hampshire attorney general's office, ABC affiliate WMUR reported Sept. 13.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health recently fell victim to an email phishing campaign that compromised employee email accounts.

McLaren Bay Region, a 415-bed hospital in Bay City, Mich., is consolidating services and employees, citing "transformational changes affecting the global healthcare industry."

In 2024, Florida hospitals reported lower nurse vacancy and turnover rates than the national average, according to a report from the Florida Hospital Association. 

Clinical trials for the injectable HIV prevention drug lenacapavir have yielded significant results, with the drug proving 89% more effective than daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis among gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, NBC News reported Sept. 13.