As more hospitals across the country shut down their maternity wards, a Sutter Health-owned hospital in Berkeley has taken proactive steps to ensure it can continue providing care for the pregnant people in its community. The hospital partnered with Millie, a Berkeley-based startup offering hybrid maternal care from midwives and doulas.
A panel discussion of hospital executives at the ViVE event last month offered insight into the challenges of implementing innovation and what they have learned from their experiences.
In an era of escalating healthcare costs and a growing preference for natural, holistic approaches to health, The Impact Brands emerges as a collective of diverse brands dedicated to supporting overall wellness through natural means.
Experts agree there are some concrete steps healthcare providers can take to ensure AI will be integrated more smoothly and equitably. Some of these measures include ensuring that models are trained on diverse datasets, keeping clinicians in the loop and prioritizing patient consent.
Providers must abandon paternalism and treat patients like partners in the decision-making process when drawing up care plans, according to Chris Waugh, Sutter Health's chief design and innovation officer. Instead of prescribing a major lifestyle overhaul without considering a patient's unique life circumstances, providers should "recognize that it's about the tiny things and the accumulation of marginal gains,” he said.
This year's HLTH conference brought a bevy of news announcements — from partnerships to new product features to acquisitions and more. In this list, MedCity News compiled short summaries for 11 of the conference's most notable announcements.
Here is a selection of recent executive hires, promotions and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry.
The TSX Venture Exchange has a strong history of helping early-stage health and life sciences companies raise patient capital for research and development.
Sutter Health Chief of Digital Health Dr Albert Chan is taking part in a panel discussion about the patient experience at the ViVE conference by HLTH and CHIME in Miami Beach March 6-9. In an interview, he discussed some of the digital health tools they've implemented from behavioral health to maternity care and AI.
The California-based health system will pay a hefty price to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted inflated diagnosis codes for certain Medicare Advantage beneficiaries to receive higher payments. Sutter Health does not admit any liability in the matter.
Sutter would pay $575 million, and would have to limit out-of-network costs and cease “all-or-nothing” contracting with health plans, according to the settlement.
The authorization comes as Covid-19 testing demand threatens to swamp U.S. labs. However, it will take time for the Lucira test to become available nationwide.
At the Payer Insights sessions on Day 1 of ViVE 2024, a panel on prior authorization offered compelling insights from speakers who shared the positive developments in this area after years of mounting frustration. Speakers also shared challenges as they work with providers to figure out how policy developments and technology will work in practice.
Medical voice assistant startup Suki closed a $20 million funding round. Flare Capital Partners led the round, and co-founder Bill Geary will join Suki’s board.
After the California Attorney General brought complaints of anticompetitive behavior against Sutter Health, the Sacramento-based health system will pay $575 million in a settlement.
The case was expected to have nationwide implications on how hospital systems negotiate prices with insurers. If the plaintiffs prevailed, Sutter was expected to face damages of up to $2.7 billion.
A long-awaited class-action lawsuit against Sutter is set to open Sept. 23 in San Francisco Superior Court where the plaintiffs seek up to $900 million in damages for overpayments that they attribute to the hospital giant.
Sutter Health was allegedly involved in a practice called upcoding, which refers to the submission of incorrect or exaggerated information about the health status of a beneficiary in order to receive a higher payout from CMS.