Price increases are the biggest driver of rising emergency room visit costs across the U.S., according to research led by the Center for Health and Biosciences' Vivian Ho and Sasathorn Tapaneeyakul.

Abstract

Using the National Academy of State Health Policy Hospital Cost Tool, we compared changes in hospital profits…

By Anshul Bhatnagar, Jingbo Niu, Vivian Ho, Wolfgang C. Winkelmayer and Kevin Erickson

Recent initiatives aim to improve…

Observations that peritoneal dialysis (PD) may be an effective, lower-cost alternative to hemodialysis for the treatment of ESKD have led to policies encouraging PD and subsequent increases in its use in the United States.

A study of U.S. hospitals acquired by private equity firms found improved financial performance — and that patient throughput (or the process of admitting, treating and discharging patients) increased while staffing decreased.

Analyzing insurance claims for BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, the authors found that level I and II trauma center expansion was not associated with increased prices or use of trauma activation fees in the state of Texas. Read the article in JAMA.

Private equity investment in hospitals has grown substantially in the 21st century, and it accelerated in the years leading up the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study of short-term acute care hospitals acquired by private equity firms, the authors find they not only have higher markups and profit margins, they’re also slower to expand their staffs.

The authors identify mental health stressors and strategies for coping with distress among underserved Latino communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It now seems technically feasible to culture human embryos beyond the “fourteen‐day limit,” which has the potential to increase scientific understanding of human development and perhaps improve infertility treatments. Robust stakeholder engagement preceded adoption of the fourteen‐day limit and should arguably be part of efforts to reassess it, write the authors.