Week in review: 11 biggest healthcare stories this week

Stay in the know with Becker's Hospital Review's weekly roundup of the nation's biggest healthcare news. Here's what you need to know this week.

1. Physicians accept responsibility for Joan Rivers' death
Five physicians from New York-based Yorkville Endoscopy agreed to pay a "substantial" amount and accepted responsibility for the death of comedian Joan Rivers to settle a malpractice lawsuit brought by her family, according to The New York Times. The Rivers family's lawyers chose not to disclose the dollar amount of the settlement because they wanted to focus on the importance of improving patient safety and quality in ASCs.

2. Johns Hopkins Hospital names first female president
Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Hospital has appointed its first female president in its 125-year history: Redonda Miller, MD. Dr. Miller will replace Ronald R. Peterson, who has served as president for 19 years, according to The Baltimore Sun.

3. House Republicans prevail in lawsuit over ACA cost-sharing subsidies
House Republicans were issued a big win in their fight against the Affordable Care Act. In a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's implementation of the ACA, House Republicans argued that the administration overstepped its powers when it began paying health insurance companies billions of dollars to reduce co-payments for lower-income people. U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer sided with the House GOP, and wrote that although Congress authorized the subsidy program under the ACA, it never actually provided money for it.

4. FTC appeals judge's order in Pennsylvania merger case
The Federal Trade Commission appealed a Pennsylvania federal judge's decision to allow the merger of Penn State Milton S. Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center and Harrisburg, Pa.-based PinnacleHealth System.

5. Judge rejects FTC's attempt to block PinnacleHealth-Penn State Hershey merger   
A Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Monday that the FTC and state regulators cannot halt the merger of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and PinnacleHealth System for an administrative challenge. The 26-page ruling denied a motion from the FTC for a preliminary injunction. The judge found the FTC failed to show it was likely to succeed on the merits of its antitrust claim.

6. HHS taps 6 health systems for bill advisory panel
HHS selected a number of leading health systems to serve on its advisory panel for the agency's "A Bill You Can Understand" challenge, which is part of a national effort to simplify the patient financial experience by re-conceiving hospital bill design.

7. Study: Hospitals that deliver superior patient experience see 50% higher margins
Hospitals that are top HCAHPS performers are seeing their revenues and net margins grow at an above-average rate, according to a recent Accenture study. Comparing six years of hospital margin data with patient experience scores from HCAHPS, Accenture found hospitals that offer a superior patient experience achieve net margins that are 50 percent higher, on average, than those of hospitals that provide an average patient experience. They also found revenue growth is outpacing operating expenses among top HCAHPS performers.

8. Clinton floats plan to let people ages 50 & up voluntarily 'buy in' to Medicare: 5 things to know
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton shuffled to the left this week on healthcare, proposing a policy The New York Times dubbed "Medicare for more." Her proposal would allow Americans ages 50 or 55 and up to voluntarily buy into Medicare.

9. Sanders' programs to add $18T to debt, largely due to healthcare plan: 4 things to know
A new report from Urban Institute & Brookings Institution's Tax Policy Center revealed that the benefits of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) domestic program would more than offset additional taxes for most Americans, but it would increase federal budget deficits to more than $18 trillion over the next decade. The increase is largely attributed to his Medicare for All plan, which was estimated to increase federal medical spending by $32 trillion, including $2.9 trillion in long-term care costs.

10. Humana to exit ACA exchanges in 2 states, and individual plans in 2 more states
Humana announced this week it will not sell ACA plans in Alabama and Virginia in 2017, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. Shortly thereafter, Louisville Business First reported the payer is going to stop offering individual plans in two more states in 2017: Kansas and Wisconsin.

11. Python falls from ceiling at Tacoma hospital
A white ball python was reunited with its owner after the snake went missing inside Tacoma (Wash.) General Hospital, according to a Q13 Fox report. Sources told Q13 Fox that a visitor snuck the snake into the hospital inside a cat carrier full of stuffed animals while the snake's owner was in the hospital. The python escaped and was found a month later in a ceiling vent.

 

More articles on leadership and management:

Lee Memorial Health System officially renamed Lee Health
Harvard Medical School to relax conflict of interest policy
Record number of hospitals earned LGBT healthcare equality designation this year

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