The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Aug. 15 that all plans on HealthCare.gov will be required to display quality star ratings come 2020 open enrollment.
CMS said in a news release, the move builds on efforts by the...
A study digging into payroll data unveiled various discrepancies between federal expectations and registered nurse staffing in nursing facilities across the country.
The study, published in Health Affairs, was authored by a group of Harvard University researchers and looked at more than 15,000 facilities.
Up to 75 percent of...
Rather than comply with a new Trump administration rule that forbids clinics from referring women for abortions, Planned Parenthood said it wold forego federal funds; the American Medical Association is one of several states along with the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association that have joined a lawsuit to...
Planned Parenthood Director Mayra Rodriguez was an administrator at Planned Parenthood clinics in Phoenix, Glendale and Flagstaff and claimed she was fired in 2017 after raising concerns about unsafe and illegal practices endangering the health and safety of patients.
Rodriguez worked for Planned Parenthood for 17 years and after...
The program allows patients in the emergency room to pose questions in the application while they wait; Banner Gateway Medical Center in Gilbert launched the program in May and it debuted this week at Banner Payson Medical Center, a 25-bed critical access hospital.
Available when patients register in the emergency department, the...
While Cigna was basking in 5-star wins with its Florida HealthSpring plan and sharing success strategies, reporters were relying on several inside sources who said the insurer is working with an investment bank to auction its group benefits business.
The reporting on Cigna's 5-star strategy first caught our eye in Health Payer...
The designation is courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) used by LGBTQ+ patients and their families to find facilities that provide equitable and inclusive care; MIHS is the first hospital in Maricopa County, Tucson's El Rio Community Health Center has also received the designation.
The HEI is an...
Fresh off its No. 2 ranking by U.S. News & World Report, hospital leaders are also sharing their excitement about creating a new children's health center in East Flagstaff.
Currently, the Children’s Health Center is located on the West Campus of NAH’s Flagstaff Medical Center, a five-star, CMS rated hospital. In order to...
Construction begins next month on the $17.5 million project, which will provide provide private rooms in a unit tailored to patients requiring advanced heart monitoring.
The unit will also serve as a stepping stone for patients well enough to leave the intensive care unit, but who require a higher level of monitoring than what’s...
The Scottsdale-based health care company agreed to pay $150,000 to the woman to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) last year.
According to the EEOC's lawsuit filed in September 2018, Community Care Health Network dba Matrix Medical Network, rescinded a job offer for a credentialing...
The latest of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to unveil a health plan is South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, centering his proposal on rural health needs and emphasizing major shortage areas such as primary care, maternal care, mental health and substance abuse providers.
Buttigieg's plan offers support for Sen....
Administrative costs such as labor account for approximately $1 trillion of healthcare spending, prompting decision makers to look for alternative methods to improve efficiency and drive down costs; a study done by Olive AI suggests 50 percent of healthcare decision makers plan to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) to curb costs by...
Following a town hall held in downtown Phoenix on July 31 to discuss the state's prison system, Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan announced his resignation, bringing to a close 40 years in the industry.
The town hall was littered with vehement pleas to fire the controversial director after citing various...
Missouri-based managed care enterprise Centene announced an expansion of its Affordable Care Act plan offerings to ten new markets, including Arizona, where it currently offers 17 plans in Maricopa and Pima counties as Health Net: Arizona Complete Health.
As of June 30, Centene served 1.9 million individual exchange members in 20...
Arizona is teetering on the edge of an obstetrician and gynecologist (OB-GYN) shortage as population growth surges, raising concerns in the state's healthcare sector for ways to combat the lack of resources.
Last month Phoenix was ranked 14th most at risk for a maternity provider shortage, according to a Doximity study that found...
This issue brief released Aug. 8, by the Kaiser Family Foundation, provides insightful data on Medicaid enrollees and their work habits – it also examines some of the policy implications of state work requirements. Arizona is one of five states approved to begin imposing work requirements, which could begin as soon as next...
According to a study at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), patients in the mobile stroke unit received a clot-busting procedure an average of 10 minutes faster—potentially saving up to 270 million neurons per patient. The study, published in Stroke, is part of a a prospective comparative effectiveness...
The Arizona insurer will send out invites to members to enroll in a new program that reminds them to refill their prescriptions on time – when they do, out-of-pocket costs drop.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona says members who refill on time any of 13 medications prescribed for cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and...
After successfully operating four behavioral health hospitals in Indiana, Dr. Cameron Gilbert is opening Medical Behavioral Hospital of Phoenix on 14th Street and McDowell in downtown Phoenix.
Caliber-The Wealth Development Company is the property owner and developer renovating the nearly 63,000 square foot facility across the street...
This month, Ensign expanded its home health and hospice portfolio when it acquired on Aug. 1 the real estate and operations of Agape Hospice and Palliative Care, which provides hospice services out of a home office in Tucson; this week it grew its footprint with a similar acquisition bundle: Surprise Health and Rehabilitation Center, a...
Among the small panel of participants were Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone, a pharmacist and a special agent with Arizona's U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Experts invited the discussion with McSally that included concerns about the increase in cartel trafficking, the risks of fake Adderall shopped to adolescents and the...
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services' (CMS) new mandates issued on Monday is requiring states and Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) to make changes to their Medicaid drug utilization review program by the end of the year. The guidance includes setting prescription limits for all opioid drugs and monitoring...
During the company's second-quarter earnings call, the insurer's CEO predicted tremendous growth opportunities in MA starting in 2020.
The expansion includes 37 new counties and more preferred provider organization (PPO) offerings to complement the insurer's HMO choices. Cigna executives said PPOs would be available in 43 counties in...
A case manager at the Department of Economic Security (DES) is taking steps to lead a class action suit after filing a civil complaint alleging outstanding unpaid overtime hours for her and hundreds of other state workers in the developmental disabilities division.
Plaintiff Kimberly Spitler has worked for DES since 2017 and...
Clover Health also announced an initial research partnership and license agreement with Genentech, a biotechnology company which discovered the first targeted antibody for cancer and the first medicine for primary progressive multiple sclerosis.
Ex-Pfizer exec Cheng Zhang will lead Clover Therapeutics; Endpoint news is reporting that...
The Hertel Report