Research Library

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 regulation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) required that, starting January 1, 2021, all U.S. hospitals publicly display the cash price as well as the minimum and maximum negotiated charge for 300 “shoppable services.”

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.

This report finds that less than half of Texas hospitals are complying with federal price transparency regulations, despite a measure passed by the state Legislature intended to increase the financial penalty for noncompliance.

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.

On what basis are a growing number of private equity firms acquiring hospitals? The authors of a study investigating the question discuss their findings.

The high cost of dialysis and transplants, combined with socioeconomic disadvantage of many patients with end-stage kidney disease, could leave them reliant upon safety-net providers for dialysis care.

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.

Following a comprehensive review of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the authors determined that the CDC’s COVID-19 case reports contained surprisingly incomplete information about the spread of the virus in the United States. Uniform case reporting to the CDC for life-threatening pandemics should be mandated, they write.

Researchers explore states' responses to the pandemic and a possible association between the strictness of lockdowns and the COVID-19 death rate.