Healthcare Mergers, Physician Consolidation, and Increased Healthcare Utilization Expected to Increase Medical Cost by 6% in 2019

PwC report indicates deal-making may generate long-term savings, but adds to higher medical costs as hospital systems dominate markets and drive up prices Consolidation of big hospital health networks combined with a loss of independent doctor practices has changed the healthcare landscape in recent years, and clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups have been directly impacted. Now, those trends, along with increased access to care, are expected to push employer medical cost up by...

More Workplace Tension in Hospitals and Clinics as Three Generations of Physicians—Baby Boomer, Gen X, and Gen Y—Try to Get Along

Growth in the number of employed physicians is contributing to heightened workplace tensions due to the cultural differences among the three generations now working together What happens when Gen Y, Gen X, and Baby Boomer physicians are employees in the same hospital, clinic, or medical laboratory? There can be a clash of expectations, values, and goals that may cause tension in the workplace. This happens when physicians, including pathologists, from different generations and different levels...

Trend of Hospitals Re-entering the Health Insurance Market May Benefit Hospital Laboratories

As ACO movement gathers momentum, hospitals and health systems see opportunities in providing health insurance Hospitals and health systems are getting back into the health insurance business. Not only is this seen as an opportunity created by the development of accountable-care organizations (ACOs), but it may help the clinical laboratories of these same hospitals that serve office-based physicians in their communities. This trend is another result of the Obamacare legislation. Some hospital...

Rising Patient Bad Debt Levels Reported by Hospitals and Clinical Pathology Laboratories

Blame it on employers requiring higher deductibles of employees, often starting at $1,500 per year Employers continue to increase the amount of deductibles and co-pays in their health benefit plans. This has a direct consequence for clinical laboratories and pathology groups, because it often creates the need to collect more money from patients at the time of service. A recent survey showed that employers are changing health benefit plans to require workers to pay more money for both insurance...

Ranking the Nation’s 25 Largest Healthcare Systems by Employees

Topping the list are, the Veterans Administration and HCA, which together employee almost 200,000 people Recently, a ranking of the nation’s top 25 healthcare systems by number of employees was published. In the number one spot is the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Department. It employs 207,000 employees. Ranked number two is HCA, Inc., the for-profit hospital corporation. It has 77,000 employees. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will recognize that both the VA and HCA are national...
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