Walgreens' VillageMD completes $8.9B deal to combine with Summit Health “Primary care disruptor VillageMD, which is majority owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance, has aquired physician practice group Summit Health in a transaction worth roughly $8.9 billion.
The deal combines Village Practice Management with Summit Health, the parent company of CityMD urgent-care centers, according to a Nov. 7 press release from Walgreens Boost Alliance.
Walgeens Boost Alliance has invested $3.5 billion, through a mix of debt and equity, to support the acquisition, making it the largest and consolidating shareholder of VillageMD with approximately 53 percent ownership.
Payer Cigna has also invested in the combined company and will serve as a minority owner in VillageMD.”
About Covid-19
COVID variants BQ.1/BQ.1.1 make up 35% of U.S. cases “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday estimated that Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 accounted for about 35% of coronavirus cases in the country in the week ending Nov.5 compared with 23.2% in the previous week.
The subvariants made up nearly 9% of total cases in the week of Oct. 15 and their proportion has been rising steadily among circulating cases since then.”
About health insurance/insurers
Kaiser Permanente reports $1.5B Q3 loss “Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries reported a net loss of $1.5 billion for the quarter ending Sept. 30, according to a Nov. 4 financial report.
The company posted total operating revenues of $24.3 billion and total operating expenses of $24.3 billion for the quarter. Total operating revenues of $23.2 billion and total operating expenses of $23.1 billion for the same period in 2021.
Additionally, there was an operating loss of $75 million in the third quarter compared to an operating income of $38 million in the third quarter of 2021, according to a Nov. 4 news release.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
OCTOBER 2022 National Hospital Flash Report “Key Takeaways:
Margins remain negative in September.
Hospital operating margins in September were negative, and are still negative for the year to date, reversing modest gains from previous months. Year to date, the hospital operating margin stands at -0.1%.
Revenue decreases drive negative margins.
A drop in revenues across the board, with declines in discharges, inpatient minutes, and operating minutes, kept hospital margins in the red in September.
Sicker patients affect discharges and lengths of stay.
Sicker patients and labor shortages in post-acute settings drove the decline in discharges and an increase in the average length of stay fueled by more observation days.
Expenses slow but not enough.
Hospital expenses decreased slightly in September but could not keep pace with the drop in revenue and volume. Year to date, when adjusted for volume, expenses have actually increased; they have improved year over year and month over month, however.
Margin performance may force hospitals into difficult decisions.
When taken altogether, the expense pressures and volume and revenue declines could force hospitals to make difficult decisions around the services they are able to safely provide to patients.”
78% of hospitals say their relationships with payers are getting worse “Hospitals are growing increasingly frustrated with payers, a survey from the American Hospital Association found….
Of the hospitals surveyed, 84 percent said the cost of complying with insurer policies is increasing, and 95 percent reported increases in staff time spent seeking prior authorization approval.”
Sutter Health blunts its difficult 2022 with a $103M Q3 profit “The Sacramento, California-based nonprofit health system reported a $103 million net gain for the three-month period ended Sept. 30, thanks in large part to $288 million in operating income.
This whittled its year-to-date losses down to $538 million, as opposed to the $641 million six-month net loss of June.”
About the public’s health
Routine Vaccination Coverage — Worldwide, 2021 “In 2021, the estimated global coverage with 3 doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis–containing vaccine as well as the first dose of measles-containing vaccine decreased to 81%, the lowest level since 2008. Globally, 25.0 million children were unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated in 2021, 5.9 million more than in 2019.”
About healthcare personnel
Association Between Nephrologist Ownership of Dialysis Facilities and Clinical Outcomes “Findings In this cross-sectional cohort study of 251 651 adults receiving dialysis, nephrologist ownership of dialysis facilities was associated with increased home dialysis use and decreased erythropoietin-stimulating agent use but not adverse outcomes associated with lower doses, such as more severe anemia or increased blood transfusions.
Meaning This study found that nephrologist ownership was not associated with worse clinical outcomes, suggesting that such ownership may be associated with improved care quality in some domains: home dialysis and erythropoietin-stimulating agent use.”
See the accompanying editorial: Physicians as Owners and Agents—A Call for Further Study