The Business of Surgery Matt Parr of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit that researches the impact of private equity (PE) investment in health care and other essential services, last week published an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times that blames PE for “dismantling” three PE-owned Chicagoland hospitals, and calls for the state of…
The University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute (LDI) of Health Economics has posted a Q&A with one of the authors of a study that examines the ongoing shit of surgeries to the outpatient setting. The study, “Inpatient to Outpatient Shifts in Surgical Care: Persistence of COVID-19 Era Changes and Socioeconomic…
Arkansas news organization Talk Business & Politics (TB&P) reports that a group of state legislators, seeking to “better understand and address constituent concerns” about the future of Baptist Health’s Fort Smith hospital, met with Baptist Health leadership last week for a “listening session” to discuss the situation. State Rep. Ryan…
The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) expressed its opposition to proposed legislation in Michigan that it says would be “catastrophic” to the state’s ASCs if enacted. The Michigan Health & Hospital Association also expressed its opposition to the bill from the perspective of hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs). Michigan HB 5770, introduced last…
The Lund Report, an independent outlet for health news in Oregon and southwest Washington reported on an invite-only session conducted last week where Salem Health and Santiam Hospital & Clinics leaders answered questions from nearly 200 local business, nonprofit and government leaders about their proposed merger. “The future of health care…
An opinion piece published in the journal Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open focuses on maximizing documentation efficiency and improving reimbursement in acute care surgery (ACS). The article, written by five ACS surgeons, notes that they and their peers are “increasingly asked to navigate complex documentation and reimbursement systems” even…
As margins tighten and labor pressures intensify, perioperative leaders are re-evaluating the levers that shape everyday efficiency and performance. One such lever — used in every OR, by every team, for every case — is the preference card. Surgeon preference cards have long held a conflicted identity: they’re indispensable, yet…
U.S. Reps. John B. Larson (D-CT) and Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) last week introduced the bipartisan Outpatient Surgery Access Act of 2026, which intends to lower surgery costs at ASCs for seniors on Medicare. “Outdated Medicare policies are limiting access to high-quality and lower-cost care,” said Rep. Van Duyne. “Our…
Health policy organization KFF on Friday published an updated study that finds just one or two health systems controlled the entire market for inpatient hospital care in nearly half of U.S. metropolitan areas in 2024. “Consolidation may allow providers to operate more efficiently and help struggling providers keep their doors open…
An article published in The National Law Review this week examines new guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) on “physician transfers of ASC ownership interests in estate planning contexts.” The article, written by Stephen M. Fatum and Thomas N. Hutchinson of…
