Adam

[Webinar]  Evolving Markets Summit

(Trilliant Health, August 12, 1 pm EDT)

2020 has been a challenging year for hospitals.  Record profits from United Healthcare. Walmart's expansion into primary care. Legal defeats on price transparency, site-neutral payments and 340B payments. And all of this in the midst of a global pandemic. The really bad news? It's only getting worse.

Join us as we discuss using data-driven strategies to understand the competitive dynamics that will shape your market over the next few years. With a more complete understanding of your health system's current market positioning, you can develop the strategies and tactics that will help your system not only survive but thrive. 

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[Article]  Effect of delays in the 2-week-wait cancer referral pathway during the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer survival in the UK: a modelling study

(The Lancet, July 20, 2020)

This study of the impact of treatment delays for cancer patients in England as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown likely has implications for U.S. cancer patients as well. As the study notes, cancer survival is similar across most economically developed countries, and the authors believe their estimates on the impact of delay in diagnosis and treatment are broadly applicable.

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[Article]  How Hospitals Can Meet the Needs of Non-COVID Patients During the Pandemic

(Harvard Business Review, July 14, 2020)

"During the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals worldwide diverted resources from routine inpatient critical care and outpatient clinics to meet the surge in demand. Because of the resulting resource constraints and fear of infection, clinicians and non-COVID patients deferred "non-urgent" visits, evaluations, diagnostics, surgeries and therapeutics. Physicians and leading public health officials noted a dramatic decline in non-COVID-related health emergencies, including upwards of a 60% decrease in patients with acute myocardial infarctions and strokes." 

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Buck

[Transcript]  COVID Webinar Series: Dr. Robert Redfield

(The Buck Institute, July 14, 2020)

Robert Redfield, M.D., the Director of the CDC, discusses COVID-19 in great detail, covering topics such as school reopenings, the politicization of face masks, testing, and vaccines. Dr. Redfield explains how important it is for health systems and the general public to change their opinions on the pandemic as the facts and data continue to change. 

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CMS.gov

[Fact Sheet]  CY 2021 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Proposed Rule (CMS-1736-P)

(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), August 4, 2020)

Building on existing efforts to increase choice, lower patients’ out-of-pocket costs, empower patients, and protect taxpayer dollars, the CY 2021 OPPS/ASC Payment System proposed rule would further advance the agency’s commitment to strengthening Medicare and reducing provider burden so that hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers can operate with increased flexibility, and patients are better equipped to be active healthcare consumers.

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