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.

The unproven stem cell intervention industry is a worldwide, direct-to-consumer market where clinics offer stem cells or stem cell-derived components to patients with little to no scientific or clinical basis. In this paper, the authors call for the establishment of a World Health Organization Expert Advisory Committee on Regenerative Medicine to tackle this issue and provide guidance. Stem Cell Reports: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.05.004

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 found that six months of pre–end-stage kidney disease nephrology care did not significantly improve the likelihood that patients would remain employed when they started dialysis. This finding underscores the need to identify effective methods to help patients stay employed when they transition to dialysis.