Reimbursement
The collaboration is expected to reduce expenses for payers and patients as hospital-based procedures cost up to 167% more than ASCs.
Operating margins for U.S. health systems narrowed slightly to 0.9% in March after holding steady in January and February.
Hospitals claim that HHS underfunded them from 2006 to 2009.
The ultimate goal is to streamline documentation and coding in the mid-revenue cycle.
Hospitals, contract pharmacies and others make significant revenue from 340B, but the concern is whether patients benefit.
The Securing Access to Care for Seniors in Critical Condition Act was introduced in March and is awaiting further action.
Revenue is also up, hitting $48.9 billion in Q1, a 15% jump as compared to $42.6 billion a year ago.
The company pulled in $6.29 billion in profit during Q1, but was hit by Medicare Advantage expenses.
Primary care physicians see an average pay increase of only 1.4%, while specialists experience an even smaller increase of 1%.
CMS proposes to remove four SDOH standardized patient assessment data elements to reduce burden.