Page 100 - Mployee Wellness Programs News Today

Patients no longer need to be tied to traditional care delivery models to receive exceptional care. Providers, payers and policymakers must continue working together to expand home-based health care and meet the preferences and needs of our aging population.

Fee-for-services payment models in the primary care ecosystem are doing a poor job of keeping Americans healthy and reducing the nation’s massive amount of healthcare spending, two CEOs of primary care companies said during a recent webinar. They argued that stakeholders in the primary care space need to come together to support more value-based care arrangements to reduce costs, advance population health and improve the patient experience.

U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-New Jersey) announced that he is looking into high prior authorization denial rates by Medicaid managed care health plans. It follows a report by the Office of Inspector General that found that Medicaid MCOs denied one out of every eight prior authorization requests in 2019.

Blue Shield of California is cutting many of its ties with CVS Caremark (though not all) and adding four additional partners for its prescription drug benefits. These partners include Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company and Amazon Pharmacy. The changes are needed to disrupt the current broken system, said Salina Wong, senior director of clinical pharmacy programs at Blue Shield of California.

We can begin to solve America’s nursing shortage in very short order with innovative educational and apprenticeship approaches that let young healthcare workers move up the skill ladder more quickly. Hospitals across the country are desperately struggling to find nurses. Traditional nursing programs take years of schooling with costs running to more than $100,000.   Nursing schools meanwhile compete desperately for available faculty and for clinical settings where students can practice. But ...

Medtech funding reached its low point in the first quarter but will slowly pick back up over the rest of 2023, according to a new Pitchbook report. It noted that this year’s medtech funding total will not come close to the $19.7 billion the sector raised in 2021, and it might even come in below last year’s funding total of $13.5 billion.

A recent survey on nurses’ mental health offers some reasons for cautious optimism. The survey showed that nurses’ mental health has continued to improve since its bleakest days during the peak of the pandemic. However, most nurses said they remain unhappy with their employer’s efforts to prioritize their mental wellbeing.

New York City-based Hey Jane, a virtual abortion provider, announced last week that it is now offering vaginal infections treatment. This includes treatment for urinary tract infections, bacterial vaginosis and herpes. It is also offering birth control and emergency contraception.

Femtech is the theme for the INVEST Digital Health Pitch Perfect competition in Dallas October 26. Seven startups will share the spotlight and present their approaches to improving women's healthcare. Register today!

As retail disruptors like CVS, Walgreens and Amazon buy more and more primary care assets, the healthcare industry is seeing an increased demand for physicians and advanced practitioners. In the case of nurse practitioners, this rise in demand is also boosting their salaries. Physicians' starting salaries have remained relatively flat, but their average signing bonus grew.