About hospitals and healthcare systems
National Hospital Flash Report “Key Takeaways
1. September data show relative stability. Though most indicators are down this month, performance remained relatively stable overall.
2. Inpatient revenue and average length of stay increased. This indicates that hospitals are treating more high-acuity patients, which results in a decline in volume and an increase in expenses.
3. Expenses, with the exception of labor, are still high compared to 2021-2023. Contract labor rates and utilization have decreased, but the overall labor market is still tight.
About pharma
Cardinal Health inks two deals worth $3.9B to expand diabetes, gastroenterology businesses “The pharmaceuticals and specialty products distributor announced Tuesday it entered into definitive agreements to acquire a majority stake in GI Alliance (GIA), a gastroenterology management services organization from a combination of GIA physician owners and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo. Cardinal Health said it will purchase its majority stake for approximately $2.8 billion in cash, which will represent 71% ownership.
Also on Tuesday, the company, which also offers data analytics services, said it plans to buy the Advanced Diabetes Supply Group (ADSG), a leading diabetic medical supplies provider, for approximately $1.1 billion in cash. “
BioNTech pays $800M to take control of potential Keytruda killer “BioNTech is upping its bet on a PD-L1xVEGF-A bispecific, paying $800 million upfront to buy its Chinese partner Biotheus and secure full rights to a leading prospect in the white-hot immuno-oncology space.
Germany-based BioNTech got into the space before the gold rush that was unleashed in September by the news that Akeso and Summit Therapeutics’ PD-1xVEGF-A prospect ivonescimab had beaten Merck & Co.’s Keytruda.”
Many Americans Unable to Afford Medications, Navitus Survey Finds “In the survey, 48% reported that the price of medication had affected their ability to get a medicine they needed at least once, and few understand the role of pharmacy benefit managers…
The survey, which was conducted online via Pollfish on Oct. 2, 2024 of those aged 18 and older, also found that 75% of respondents don’t know what a PBM is, and 84% couldn’t name one.
Other key findings include:
89% of Americans think healthcare consumers in the United States pay more than other countries.
45% haven’t filled a prescription due to cost.
43% have had to change medications because it wasn’t covered by insurance
50% have used a cost savings options such as discount cards”
About the public’s health
CDC estimates a national diabetes prevalence of nearly 16% “A data brief from the CDC focused on the national diabetes prevalence across the U.S. estimates that 16% of adults in the U.S. have diabetes, with approximately 4.5% being undiagnosed.”
About healthcare personnel
Physician employment models 'are not sustainable' as labor expenses rise “Medical groups are also experiencing high labor costs, with 84% of the group's total expenses attributed to labor, according to Kaufman Hall's Physician Flash Report based on data from more than 200,000 providers. The average subsidy per employed physician was $304,312. This is the first time it's exceeded $300,000. ‘Investment/subsidy per physician rose above $300,000 for the first time — a sign that current models of physician employment are not sustainable,’ said Matthew Bates, managing director and Physician Enterprise service line leader with Kaufman Hall. ‘Revenue is increasing but physicians and providers are working more while generating less revenue. Health systems need to rethink operations to align the costs of provider employment with the current healthcare environment.’”
Healthcare's most dangerous workplaces”In 2023, private industry employers reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses, down 8.4% from 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
Nov. 8…
ome of the healthcare subsectors with the highest rates of nonfatal injury or illness per 100 full-time workers are:
Ambulance services — 7.4
Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) — 6.9
Continuing care retirement communities and assisted living facilities for the elderly — 6.5
Psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals — 6.3
General medical and surgical hospitals — 5.1”
Primary care player Forward shutters after raising $400M, rolling out CarePods Primary care player Forward is abruptly shutting down its operations, closing its locations and canceling scheduled visits, the company publicly announced Wednesday.
The company also is shutting down its mobile application effectively immediately, the company said in a post on its website. There was no other information available on the website.”
Comment: It is worthwhile reading the whole article to get an understanding of what Forward did and speculate why it didn’t work.
Medical Board Discipline of Physicians for Spreading Medical Misinformation “Extremely low rates of disciplinary activity for misinformation conduct were observed in this study despite increased salience and medical board warnings since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic about the dangers of physicians spreading falsehoods; these findings suggest a serious disconnect between regulatory guidance and enforcement and call into question the suitability of licensure regulation for combatting physician-spread misinformation.”
See also: State Medical Board Sanctions for Misinformation Should Be Rare