Editor's Note Legislation introduced in the US House of Representatives seeks to expand access to anesthesia care for veterans by granting Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) full practice authority within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The Ensuring Veterans Timely Access to Anesthesia Care Act of 2025 is sponsored by Representatives…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission has announced UNIFY 2025: Convening for Quality, a national event set for September 16-17, 2025, in Washington, DC. The two-day gathering will bring together healthcare leaders and policymakers to address critical challenges in patient safety and healthcare quality. According to the announcement, the event will…

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Editor's Note Multiple states seek to limit corporate influence in medicine by instituting additional checks on private equity-driven healthcare mergers, according to a March 17 report in Axios. Referencing multiple state-specific reports, the article summarizes specific efforts in Massachusetts, where a new law expands oversight of transactions; Maine, where a…

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Editor's Note The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) is warning that millions of Americans could lose access to essential colorectal cancer (CRC) screenings if the Supreme Court rules against the role of the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in guiding preventive care coverage. According to the organization’s March 7…

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Editor's Note President Donald Trump signed an executive order to enforce healthcare price transparency regulations, according to a February 25 report in Fierce Healthcare. As detailed in the article, the order directs the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (HHS) to rapidly implement and enforce price transparency…

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Editor's Note Ongoing hospital closures are driving up travel times and out-of-pocket costs for rural Americans who need surgery, according to a February 12 report in HealthDay. Citing two recent studies published in Annals of Surgery and JAMA, respectively, the article details how rural hospital closures have forced more patients…

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Editor's Note Although the central tenets of value-based healthcare have not changed, in many cases implementation has been reduced to little more than reducing costs, to the detriment of clinicians and patients. In a session at the 2025 OR Business Management Conference in February, economist Susanna Gallani, PhD, examined this…

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Editor's Note If you can’t join us in Tampa for this year’s OR Business Management Conference (ORBMC), we’ve got you covered. This week, newsletter subscribers will enjoy exclusive access to coverage of select sessions from the 13th annual event, hosted today through Wednesday at the Saddlebrook resort in Tampa, Florida.…

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Editor's Note As part of a larger initiative to ease access to care, insurance giant Cigna is tying compensation for senior leadership directly to customer satisfaction. Modern Healthcare reported the news February 3. The shift is part of a multi-pronged approach that also includes overhauling prior authorization requirements and limiting…

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Takeaways • Although the central tenets of value-based healthcare have not changed, in many cases implementation has been reduced to little more than reducing costs, to the detriment of clinicians and patients. • The right incentives, such as recognition and work support, can effectively inspire clinicians to deliver high value…

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