Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health posted a $9.5 million loss for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 WJHL reported Dec. 20.

Here are three providers that chose Conifer Health Solutions for revenue cycle management services this year:

Consumer confidence rose to its highest level since April amid growing optimism over the U.S. economy and jobs.

Troubled Leadville, Colo.-based St. Vincent Health made payroll Dec. 9, but its financial future and that of its workers remains unclear.

Cando, N.D.-based Towner County Medical Center has completed a $58 million financing agreement that will go toward building a critical access hospital and nursing home.

Hollywood, Fla.-based Memorial Healthcare reported a net loss of approximately $104.7 million for the six months ended Oct. 31, including a $95.6 million loss in the last three months of that period. The numbers compare with a net gain of $50.9 million and $12.9 million for the same periods, respectively, in 2021.

U.S. health care spending increased 2.7 percent in 2021, reaching $4.3 trillion or $12,914 per person, according to CMS.

A majority of Americans say further price transparency fixes should be a "top priority" for Congress, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found. 

Health system leaders are expecting healthcare decisions in 2023 to be defined by staffing challenges, inflation, patient affordability, shrinking margins and supply chain struggles, according to a recent Deloitte Center for Health Solutions survey.

Five health systems recently posted job listings seeking revenue cycle vice presidents. 

Not only do healthcare companies, including hospital groups, face sustained challenges related to labor shortages and inflation into 2023, they are up against a wall of maturing debt looming large in 2024 and 2025, analysts at Moody's said.

In a letter sent to President Joe Biden this week, 25 governors ask for the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency in April. 

Hundreds of hospitals sue patients or take other legal actions, such as garnishing wages, to collect on medical debt, according to a Dec. 21 report from Kaiser Health News.

A rural hospital in Arkansas now looks as if it may open in early January after facing several delays, the hospital's CEO told Becker's Dec. 20.

Pittsburg, Kan.-based Ascension Via Christi Hospital is closing its behavioral health department due to a lack of funding and staffing, CBS affiliate KOAM reported Dec. 19. 

Newport Hospital, part of Providence, R.I.-based Lifespan Health System, generates an annual economic impact of at least $54 million in the local community, a study by local college students concluded.

Aspen (Colo.) Valley Hospital is instituting an across-the-board 6 percent wage hike along with an equivalent increase in patient bills and fees, The Aspen Times reported Dec. 15.

Centennial, Colo.-based Centura Health broke ground on an expansion to its St. Anthony North Hospital in Westminster, the health system said Dec. 19.

Baltimore.-based Johns Hopkins Health System had its credit ratings affirmed at "AA-" as it continues to perform well and maintain its prominent role in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., markets, Fitch Ratings reported Dec. 19.

The city of Columbus in Ohio is considering a plan to relieve millions in medical debt for its residents, NPR-affiliate WOSU reported Dec. 19.