The safety-net health system re-opening 15 inpatient behavioral health beds at its Maryvale hospital this week. The beds were closed in 2022 due to staffing challenges.
Valleywise Health is the largest provider of court-ordered inpatient behavioral healthcare in Arizona, with 412 licensed beds at three hospitals in Mesa, Maryvale and...
Dr. Michael Gordon, Chief Medical Officer of the HonorHealth Research Institute, said the initiation of TILs therapy at HonorHealth holds the promise of better outcomes for a variety of patients.
HonorHealth Research Institute plans to offer a potentially revolutionary T cell drug — approved recently by the FDA to be safe and...
Banner Rehabilitation Hospital Tucson, a new, 44-bed, all-private-room medical rehabilitation hospital in Tucson, Arizona had its groundbreaking ceremony February 18, 2024.
This is the fourth rehabilitation hospital to open as part of a joint venture between partners Banner Health and Select Medical, which began in 2018.
Under the...
The AzHIP includes five priorities: health equity, social determinants of health, mental well-being, rural and urban underserved populations, and pandemic recovery and resiliency. All priorities were updated, except for the pandemic recovery and resiliency priority, which was published more recently.
The updated document reflects...
Tennessee-based Community Health Systems' (CHS) operational practices are the subject of a new investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The investigation was made public in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
The filing said that CHS received a Civil Investigative Demand in January and that the company was...
Last week, UnitedHealth Group's (UHG) health care technology subsidiary Change Healthcare was hit by a cyberattack that disrupted services for pharmacies and patients.
UHG said that once the attack was detected, Change was forced to disconnect some of its digital network from client access and shut down services including programs...
Last week, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) published a study on the role of private equity (PE) in Medicare Advantage. The study found that PE investment has fallen since the increase of interest rates and the implementation of stricter regulations.
The study looked at PE activity between 2016 and 2023, and analyzed...
The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS), a nonprofit which represents accountable care organizations (ACOs), uncovered a Medicare fraud scheme that may have cost the government $2 billion.
Federal officials are now investigating the fraudulent billing of nearly 406,000 patients for catheters. The Washington...CMS Rules
Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a new rule that would improve oversight of accrediting organizations (AOs).
Recently, AOs have come under fire for failing to update accreditation of providers and suppliers that fail to meet requirements for the Medicare and Medicaid programs. AOs are...
Last year, the Arizona Attorney General's Office in coordination with Arizona's Medicaid program uncovered a massive scandal that victimized thousands of vulnerable addicts through fraudulent sober living homes.
Some critics have noted that the term "sober living home" in the context of reporting on the scandal has been misconstrued...CMS Rules
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have taken the next step on the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan draft guidance, which is required by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to advance President Joe Biden's plan to lower drug costs for seniors.
The draft guidance provides communication and education requirements for...
A pair of bills that would increase protections for long-term care (LTC) residents advanced through the House Rules committee this week, and the American Osteopathic Association has launched a campaign in support of "truth in advertising in health care."
Representative Quang Nquyen (R-Prescott) introduced HB 2653, which would allow...
According to the authors, fewer than 10% or 2,000 Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) participate in ACOs, 70% of ACOs have no SNF participation, and less than 10% of ACOs account for most SNP participation.
The trade groups: The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) and the National...
CAHPS Hospice Survey measure scores are calculated across eight rolling quarters and are published quarterly for all hospices with 30 or more completed surveys over the reporting period. The Hertel Report compiled the data and identified all Arizona hospice providers with star ratings from a low of 1 to 5, which denotes the highest...
Dignity Health facilities remain out of network since negotiations failed to produce a contract by February 1, 2024. The health system owned by CommonSpirit Health contends Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is 90+ days in arrears for "tens of millions of dollars in claims" and has "too frequently" denied medically necessary treatment,...
As legislative season advances, more than 40 states across the country are expected to consider bills that aim to speed up the delivery of care or place restrictions on the use of prior authorization by insurance plans.
In 2023, states enacted 20 bills that target prior authorization practices, but this year more than 70 measures have...
With rents reaching their most unaffordable levels in history and high rates of homelessness compounded by complex medical illnesses, the federal government has initiated a public-private partnership project to facilitate housing and rental assistance through Medicaid programs.
Although, as Vox points out, Congress has long resisted...
Arizona is projected to struggle with the ongoing national nursing workforce shortage into 2025 and beyond.
The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis has predicted that Arizona will experience a shortage of 28,100 fewer registered nurses than needed by 2025, which will be the largest disparity in the country. According to...
A new study demonstrates that Medicare Advantage members of marginalized identities overwhelmingly report ongoing discrimination in the delivery of health care.
The study, published in the American Journal of Managed Care, was conducted by Humana to test the feasibility of screening for health literacy and perceived discrimination....
Last Month, the American Cancer Society (ACS) released its annual Cancer Statistics Report, which showed that although cancer cases continue to decline overall, an alarming uptick in colorectal cancer among people under 50 has researchers worried.
The new data shows a significant, ongoing decline in overall cancer mortality, curbing...
This week, State Superintendent of Schools Tom Horne announced a partnership with the HealthCorps Initiative, a non-profit founded by conservative politician and talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Arizona will be HealthCorps' only state partner and will place peer mentors from Arizona State University (ASU) and Grand Canyon University...
On January 30, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out a new website that it hopes will facilitate value-based care (VBC) uptake and education.
CMS Innovation Center Director Liz Fowler has previously noted that the parameters for "value-based care" have remained elusive to industry stakeholders. In response,...
This week, the Health and Human Services Committees in the Arizona House and Senate heard a number of bills related to the administration of health and health policy and local industry advocates are speaking up to remind lawmakers of what's on the line this session.
As tensions around immigration issues rise nationally, Arizona Health...
On Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a remarkable increase in participation in accountable care organization (ACO) programs in 2024.
The CMS press release boasts that 19 newly formed ACOs will join the new Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) permanent payment option that grants ACOs $20 million...