A recent empirical analysis of hospitals’ physician practice acquisitions and employment is the latest to suggest provider consolidation has brought an increase in prices. The working paper analysis, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, focuses on the window between 2008 and 2016 when the share of physicians integrated with a hospital rose from 27.5% to 47.2%.
The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a fiscal year 2026 funding package totaling $153.5 billion that includes $3.5 billion to continue modernizing the Department of Veterans Affairs’ EHR system. The allocation is part of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act, which passed the committee in a bipartisan 26-3 vote, according to a July 17 news release from the committee.
Study: Major Advances in EHR Usability and Clinician Satisfaction
On July 16, Black Book Research announced the results of its survey on digital health experiences. The findings come fourteen years after the first major wave of hospital Electronic Health Record (EHR) adoption, the market research company stated in a news brief. Since 2011, nearly 130,000 hospital-based clinicians have reported significant improvements in EHR usability, workflow integration, and overall satisfaction, the announcement stated.
Provider organizations have answered the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’) call for deregulation suggestions with their policy change wish lists, tackling topics from prior authorization to coding to patient data access. In line with the administration’s push for a 10:1 deregulation agenda, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched the department’s 60-day request for information (RFI) in May.
340B Health is raising objections to new Medicare payment proposals from CMS, which includes deeper cuts to outpatient payments and the possibility of future drug reimbursement reductions. Under the newly released 2026 outpatient rule, CMS said it plans to accelerate reimbursement cuts to 340B hospitals for non-drug items and services,
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