GI practices are scaling up as payment pressure mounts. Medicare physician payments for colonoscopies and EGDs fell more than 22% in inflation-adjusted terms from 2018 to 2023, according to a 2024 American Journal of Gastroenterology report. Meanwhile, 76% of gastroenterologists…
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Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, Ill., has lost its level 2 trauma center designation after its contracted anesthesia group suspended services over a missed payment. The Illinois Department of Public Health revoked the designation because the hospital lacks anesthesia…
Surgery centers cannot conjure more anesthesia providers, and many cannot keep absorbing the subsidies that keep those providers in the building. A Florida anesthesia company is betting the next-best lever is already sitting in ASCs’ scheduling data. MAS Anesthesia Consultants…
Long wait times, staffing shortages and rising call volumes are putting pressure on health system contact centers. At UChicago Medicine alone, teams handle roughly 12,000 calls a day. To address these challenges, UChicago Medicine, Tampa General Hospital and the University…
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Loyola Medicine plans to build a $120 million ambulatory care center in Warrenville, Ill, backed by Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, according to an Oct. 26 news release. Loyola calls the project one of the largest outpatient investments in its history,…
The same outpatient procedure can be billed two very different ways depending on whether it happens in an ASC or a hospital outpatient department. The facility, the payment system, the claim form and the patient’s share of the bill can…
The Washington Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 that Seattle-based Virginia Mason Medical Center violated a state rule barring defense lawyers from privately communicating with a patient’s treating physicians, including physicians who no longer work for the hospital, according to a…
Noncompetes, poached surgeons and practice sales drove some of the year’s most-watched legal fights over physicians, practices and pay. Here are 12 cases Becker’s covered in 2026 and where they stand now. 1. Ellis Medicine v. St. Peter’s Health Partners…
All 10 of the highest-volume ASC procedures would be paid less by Medicare in 2027 under CMS’ proposed outpatient payment rule, even though the agency proposed a 2.4% average rate increase for ASCs. CMS released the proposed rule July 2.…
A single locum tenens assignment can scatter its costs across several systems. A staffing coordinator books the airfare. Lodging goes on a corporate card. The agency invoices its fees separately. Ground transportation, meals and reimbursements arrive later on expense reports,…
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