Banner Children’s recently celebrated the grand opening of its new multi-specialty pediatric clinic on the Banner Ironwood campus. The new clinic joins a host of other robust pediatric-focused healthcare amenities to serve a rapidly growing area...Arizona News
Banner Health and Global Medical Response have partnered to extend air ambulance services in Arizona through BannerAir™, which launched July 1. This is the first hospital and air ambulance partnership in the Phoenix metro area in which Banner Health will use these services for hospital-to-hospital transports and on-scene emergency...News
A new KFF analysis found that Black Medicare beneficiaries are more likely to have cost-related problems with their healthcare than White beneficiaries; the racial disparity persisted among beneficiaries in both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans.
About 28% of Black beneficiaries reported healthcare cost-related...News
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) lacked the authority to ensure that hospitals had appropriate emerging infectious disease preparedness plans in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OIG conducted this audit to asses how CMS is...News
CMS announced Daniel Tsai as the new Deputy Administrator and Director of Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services.
Over 80 million people receive health coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Tsai will lead the Center’s efforts in addressing health equity disparities and serving the needs of...Arizona News
The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System is soliciting input from stakeholders to inform the development and implementation of its Value Based Purchasing (VBP) strategies for Contract Year Ending (CYE) 2022 and CYE 2023.
One of AHCCCS’ Strategic Priorities in the AHCCCS Strategic Plan is to pursue and implement long-term...Arizona News
For the fifth time, Phoenix Children’s Hospital has earned national rankings from the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” in 10 out of 10 ranked specialties.
The hospital is the only children’s hospital in Arizona ever to have been recognized by U.S. News & World Report and one of only 22...Arizona News
The Arizona Department of Health Services and Maricopa County Department of Public Health have honored 121 employers across the state for excellence in worksite wellness strategies.
The seventh annual Healthy Arizona Worksites Program awards event recognized many of the hundreds of participating corporations, healthcare organizations,...News
Better Medicare Alliance, a leading research and advocacy organization supporting Medicare Advantage, has announced the selection of health policy veteran and patient advocacy leader Mary Beth Donahue as President and CEO.
Donahue has had nearly a decade of leadership in public service at the U.S. Department of Health and Human...News
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has collaborated with standards development organizations and a large community of experts to release the Project US@ (USA) Draft Technical Specification Version 1.0 for public comment.
Project US@ was created to...Arizona News
Select Medical and Northwest Healthcare, a subsidiary of Community Health Systems, announced the joint venture partnership and acquisition of Curahealth Tucson, a 47-bed long-term acute care hospital.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the early third quarter of 2021. Under the joint venture,...Arizona News
Across the country, hospitals and blood donation centers are experiencing an unprecedented shortage of blood. This is due to an uptick in surgeries that were postponed during the pandemic.
According to Dr. Pampee Young, Chief Medical Officer of Biomedical Services for the American Red Cross, it's been two decades since hospitals have...
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are environmental, social, and economic conditions that affect health outcomes; SDOH data interoperability is key in the pursuit of health equity.
According to a post from ONC’s Health IT Buzz blog, authors Jawanna Henry and Samantha Meklir explained,
Addressing inequities in these conditions,...
This week Humana signed a definitive agreement to acquire One Homecare Solutions (“onehome”) from WayPoint Capital Partners (a private equity affiliate of a family investment office). This acquisition will continue Humana’s strategy to create a value-based home health offering. One Homecare Solution's offers a variety of home-based...
Through the Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS released revised reporting requirements for recipients of Provider Relief Fund payments. The announcement includes expanding the amount of time providers will have to report information; the extension aims to reduce the burden on smaller providers.
On June 11, the Biden...
Physicians, residents and medical students at the Special Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates adopted new policies that aim to target peer-to-peer review of prior authorization decisions and the specific burden of prior authorization during a public health emergency.
This came after years of advocacy to streamline burdensome prior...Arizona News
The Arizona Association of Health Plans (AzAHP) Board of Directors unanimously elected Lorry Bottrill to serve as the organization’s new chairman. Bottrill has been a leader in Arizona’s health care community for more than 25 years and currently serves as CEO of Mercy Care.
Jim Stringham, CEO of Banner University Health Plans, will...News
Since February 15, 1.2 million consumers, nearly 24,000 in Arizona, have enrolled in the Affordable Care Act’s Healthcare.gov marketplace plans as a result of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Special Enrollment Period for the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.
CMS released a new report that shows that more than 1 million new and...Arizona News
Arizona Urology Specialists recently opened the Urologic Surgery Center of Arizona - an ambulatory surgery center dedicated to urologic surgery. The new center is located at 1313 E. Osborn Road, suite 170, in Phoenix, AZ.
This new outpatient surgery center features advanced operating room technology and equipment in its three...Arizona News
Oak Street Health, a network of value-based primary care centers for adults on Medicare, announced its plans to enter Arizona in 2022, making Arizona its 20th new market.
Oak Street Health will bring its innovative model of care to older adults in Phoenix and Tucson while creating employment opportunities for healthcare providers...
