The Consumer Price Index climbed 6.5 percent in the year through December, down from 7.1 percent in November and the slowest rate since October 2021, The New York Times reported Jan. 12.

Hospitals and health systems need to scale to thrive in today's marketplace but with a tumultuous financial year in the rearview mirror and no immediate respite in site, many will pursue strategic partnerships as a way to stay afloat, according to a Jan. 9 report from KPMG. 

Private equity firm Alpine Investors has invested in Medusind, a revenue cycle management company. 

The average contract labor spend among hospitals more than doubled between 2011 and 2020, with many hospitals and health systems now making concerted efforts to curb this expense category. 

Pauls Valley, Okla.-based Valley Community Hospital CEO Madhukar Sharma told Pauls Valley Democrat on Jan. 11 that the hospital is staying open, despite community rumors to the contrary.

While 2022 was one of the most difficult years financially for nonprofit healthcare systems, the outlook for 2023 does provide some cautious optimism, Fitch Ratings analysts said on a webinar Jan. 11.

CMS on Jan. 11 unveiled key dates for the first year of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program under the Inflation Reduction Act, a $739 billion package that aims to lower drug costs.

Salem (Ore.) Health has had its "AA-" rating affirmed on bonds the health system owns as well as for its overall rating, Fitch said Jan. 11. The outlook for the system is stable.

Northern Light Health turning to a for-profit giant like Optum for "financial help" won't help it mitigate billing- and insurance-related costs and underscores hospitals' growing financial woes, Daniel Bryant, MD, a former physician at Mercy Hospital in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, wrote in a Jan. 10 article in the Press Herald.

Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Health — which operates four hospitals, including the level 1 trauma facility Baystate Medical Center — reported a net loss of $327.4 million in the year ending Sept. 30 2022.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the federal reserve "may very well" raise the interest rate to 6 percent, a move higher than most officials and Wall Street strategists are anticipating, Yahoo Finance reported Jan. 10.  

Seven revenue cycle management companies — including Ventra Health and R1 RCM — have announced executive leadership changes since Nov. 8:

The Madera (Calif.) County Board of Supervisors is looking into allocating half of its remaining American Rescue Plan Act funding to resume operations at Madera Community Hospital. The city's sole hospital for about 150,000 residents shut its doors just before the new year after Trinity Health's plan to buy it fell through. 

Employees at Las Vegas-based Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center have been notified of layoffs coming to the facility, which will transition to a freestanding emergency department, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Jan. 10.

Cash prices for COVID-19 screenings spiked in December during the tripledemic, according to the most recent U.S. Health Care Price Index released Jan. 10.

Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network has been forced to temporarily close its AHN Express Care East urgent care center in Harborcreek Township, Pa., due to a shortage of nurses, GoErie reported Jan. 10.

There are too many hospital projects chasing too little government funding in Wyoming, a  hospital CEO has complained after an application for federal funding for expansions and updates at his location was tabled, a Jan. 10 Buffalo Bulletin report said.

Health system mergers and acquisitions dipped in the second half of 2022 as hospitals looked to address urgent challenges including staff shortages, inflation and the rising costs of labor, supplies and energy. 

An original gubernatorial proposal for a public health budget of $243 million annually in Indiana may have been lowered, but Hoosier state legislators are focusing on healthcare as a top priority in the new 2023 session, according to a Jan. 10 report in the Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Ventra Health has appointed Steven Huddleston CEO following the retirement of Mike O'Boyle.