Law & Legislation
Social distancing outperforms closing borders in preventing virus spread
Editor’s Note Social distancing was more effective than closing borders in preventing the spread of COVID-19, according to a study published in Cell December 14. Conducted by Scripps Research, the study examined the efficacy of various mandates—including stay-at-home measures, social distancing, and travel restrictions— in preventing local and regional transmission…
Bill seeks to improve cost transparency, provide relief to patients
Editor's Note The US House of Representatives may vote this week on The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. Introduced September 8, the proposed act aims to boost healthcare pricing transparency so consumers can make more informed decisions. Key elements include: Hospitals, payers, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), and other facilities would…
Proposed bill seeks to end costly insurance fees on electronic healthcare payments
Editor's Note A new bill introduced by a bipartisan group in Congress seeks to ban fees on electronic healthcare payments from insurance companies, which cost hospitals millions and are a particular burden on hospitals in rural areas, according to a November 28 press release. The bill is called the No…
New California law expands workplace violence prevention measures
Editor's Note A new workplace violence law was enacted in California in September 2023 that requires all businesses to have a violence prevention plan in place by July 1, 2024, HealthLeaders November 7 reports. Employers already covered under the Workplace Violence Healthcare standard are exempted, as are law enforcement agencies…
Kaiser Permanente workers agree to new labor contract post-strike
Editor's Note Kaiser Permanente union workers have agreed to a new 4-year contract that includes 21% raises along with new minimum wages and provisions to improve staffing shortages, Chief Healthcare Executive November 10 reports. In October of this year, more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers, including nurses and technicians,…
Effect of Medicaid expansion on reductions in preventable hospitalizations
Editor's Note This study, led by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, examines whether Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion among Black, Hispanic, and White patients led to reductions in preventable hospitalizations. Data on census population and hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions from 2010 to…
New CMS rule focuses on postop opioids in outpatient settings
Editor's Note The Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation (NOPAIN) Act, which is set to take effect in 2025, will set up a separate Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) payment for certain nonopioid pain management techniques in outpatient and ambulatory surgery center (ASC) settings, the September 12 Becker’s…
Market forces affecting the ambulatory surgery industry
Ambulatory is the term the industry is “stuck with” because that is the name the founders came up with in 1970, says David Shapiro, MD, CASC, CPHRM, LHR, an anesthesiologist with extensive experience in ambulatory surgery management and a member of the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) board.…
Study: Physician-owned hospitals have worse readmissions, other quality metrics
Editor's Note According to a study from health economics consulting firm Dobson | DaVanzo, submitted to the American Hospital Association (AHA) on August 1, physician-owned hospitals (POHs) "publicly report on fewer Medicare quality measures and perform worse on readmission penalties than full-service community hospitals" AHA August 3 reports. "The study…
ACS: 19 surgical organizations oppose CMS code G2211
Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) announced, on July 26, that it and 18 other surgical organizations sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), strongly opposing implementation of its code G2211. The G2211 code is an effort by CMS to pay more for…
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- Study links pandemic stress to persistent increases in nursing-sensitive quality indicators
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