Read today’s Kaiser Health News
In other news:
Health Care (From U.S.News Best State Rankings): FYI
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Hospital Price Transparency in Action: An Analysis of Radiology Procedure Price Variation in Children's Hospitals Between 2023 and 2024: Findings show a statistically significant decrease in price variation, with the coefficient of variation (CV) for negotiated rates declining by 19.2% but overall prices continuing to rise, with payer specific negotiated rates increasing by an average 6.7%. Price transparency policies may contribute to reduced price dispersion; however, the average price did increase.
Monthly Healthcare Industry Financial Benchmarks: Highlights from the March 2025 data include:
Operating margins for U.S. health systems narrowed slightly to 0.9% in March, after holding steady at 1% for both January and February, while hospital operating margins rose year-over-year (YOY).
Non-labor expenses continued to rise faster than other expense categories, due in part to double-digit increases in both drug and supply expenses versus the same month last year.
Patient demand was up nationwide across most metrics in March, following decreases in February, as growth in outpatient visits outpaced inpatient admissions.
Gross outpatient revenues led overall hospital revenue increases, jumping 10.0% YOY as hospitals and health systems continue to see care shift from inpatient to outpatient settings.
Per-physician expenses rose to $1.2 million in the first quarter, representing an increase of 3% compared to Q4 2024 and 10.3% versus Q1 2024.
Northwell, Nuvance's 28-hospital merger crosses the finish line: As expected, Northwell Health and Nuvance Health have consummated their 28-hospital merger.
The resulting nonprofit juggernaut delivers care to more than 13 million people in New York and Connecticut by way of a $22.6 billion operating budget. It employs more than 104,000 people, and alongside the hospitals runs over 1,050 ambulatory care sites, 73 urgent care locations and three medical research and education organizations.
About pharma
The 25 priciest drug classes for hospitals FYI. By far, the largest class is Antineoplastic targeted agents: $7.3 billion.
About the public’s health
FDA label updates aim to make it easier to choose healthy foods: FDA updates to criteria for using the term “healthy” on manufactured and packaged foods are aimed at helping consumers quickly and easily identify what they need to eat for a healthful diet, experts said during an FDA webinar…
The FDA released the final rule updating the definition of the nutrient content claim “healthy” for manufactured and packaged foods in December 2024.
About healthcare IT
Mercer launches tool that allows employers to predict healthcare costs linked to climate events: Climate-related health challenges are driving up employer spending, and a new tool built by Mercer aims to help firms anticipate the potential costs.
The Climate Health Cost Forecaster was developed in partnership with the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health. It seeks to arm employers with the data necessary to estimate the long-term health costs tied to weather events like extreme heat, poor air quality, flooding and hurricanes.
The tool is designed to offer companies a local perspective on the vulnerabilities that could impact their workforces. It leans on a combination of Mercer's proprietary models for healthcare costs and key weather and epidemiological research, according to an announcement.