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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday locked in a 2.3% increase for base inpatient hospital payments for fiscal year 2027 and slightly delayed the launch of the CJR-X Model, the first mandatory nationwide test of an episode-based payment model. The finalized increase to the base pay rate is below what the agency floated in the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule last April. The final rule reflects a 3.2% annual market basket update and a statutory 0.9 percentage point productivity adjustment, as opposed to the proposed 0.8 percentage point trim.
A study involving researchers from Harvard University, Oxford University and Mayo Clinic found that a simple, data-driven triage protocol reduced emergency department length of stay by 11 minutes without compromising patient safety or requiring additional resources. Published in the INFORMS journal Management Science, the study highlights how the research group developed an evidence-based protocol to identify patients who could safely receive care in a seated treatment area—known as a vertical processing pathway—instead of occupying a traditional emergency department bed. The results demonstrated measurable improvements in efficiency.
Cleveland Clinic is building a new primary care workforce powered by AI, inboxologists and more
The job of a primary care physician has changed faster than the workforce built to support it. At Cleveland Clinic Florida, Surendra Khera, MD, is combining new technology, new roles and a fundamental rethinking of how primary care gets done. Over the past four years, he has led a broad redesign of the market’s primary care operations: recruiting more than 100 clinicians, cutting new patient wait days by nearly 75%, completing annual wellness visits for more than 75% of eligible patients and generating ACO shared savings for two consecutive years.
Earlier lifeline for rural hospitals faces test under 'Big Beautiful' law
A century-old hospital near Michigan’s southern border was one of the nation’s first to convert into a new emergency-focused model Congress created to save rural care. Afterward, though, use of Sturgis Hospital’s emergency department fell, according to data collected at the state level. In June, three years after taking the federal lifeline, the hospital closed, leaving residents of Sturgis, a town of about 11,000 people, without critical healthcare. The closure “could be kind of a canary in the coal mine” for rural healthcare, said Lauren LaPine-Ray, the vice president of policy and rural health at the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.
HHS Is Reviving Its 340B Rebate Push — And Providers Are None Too Pleased
HHS is reviving a rebate program for 340B drug discounts after the previous pilot was blocked in court earlier this year. Providers say the change will burden already cash-strapped providers with new administrative and financial costs. The new rebate model applies to 25 drugs tied to Medicare’s negotiated “maximum fair price” under the Inflation Reduction Act. Notably, none of the drugs on the list are among the key drivers of 340B spending — which tend to be high-cost specialty drugs, often cancer and immunology treatments.
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