Plus, who was the highest paid payer CEO last year?

This Week

May 6, 2023

CVS closes $10.6B acquisition of Oak Street Health to expand primary care footprint


Arbitration panel hands Envision a victory over UnitedHealth, awards $91.3M judgment


CVS' Karen Lynch was the highest paid payer CEO last year. Here's what her competitors earned


Telehealth providers cheer DEA move to temporarily extend virtual prescribing flexibilities


Michigan Blues plan takes Vermont Blues under its wing in affiliation deal - Paige Minemyer

 

Featured

CVS closes $10.6B acquisition of Oak Street Health to expand primary care footprint

CVS Health has closed its $10.6 billion acquisition of Medicare-focused primary care player Oak Street Health as it moves forward aggressively on its strategy to expand beyond pharmacy into health services.
 

Top Stories

Arbitration panel hands Envision a victory over UnitedHealth, awards $91.3M judgment

Jim Rechtin, CEO of Envision, said that while the group is "pleased" with the outcome, it "should not take five years to get paid for the lifesaving care our clinicians provide."

CVS' Karen Lynch was the highest paid payer CEO last year. Here's what her competitors earned

Big payers continue to grow, and the compensation packages for their top brass are expanding alongside the companies.

Telehealth providers cheer DEA move to temporarily extend virtual prescribing flexibilities

The DEA is looking to buy some time to consider whether it should require patients to see doctors face-to-face to get prescriptions for controlled drugs or continue to allow telehealth prescriptions. The agency received a record 38,000 public comments on its proposed rule.

Michigan Blues plan takes Vermont Blues under its wing in affiliation deal

The Michigan and Vermont Blues plans announced an affiliation that plan executives say will give the Green Mountain State insurer better technological tools without losing its local flavor.

Healthcare Dealmakers—Kaiser Permanente acquiring Geisinger; Michigan's $7B academic merger

UnitedHealth Group's quiet physician group pickup, Olive's AI payer business divesture and more merger and acquisition news from the month of April.

Chatbots outperformed doctors in answering patient questions with accuracy and empathy: JAMA study

A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine late last week revealed that when it comes to more nuanced tasks like answering patient questions, AI-based chatbots outperform physicians by 78.6%.

North Carolina Senate passes bill waiving UNC Health from state, federal antitrust enforcement

North Carolina legislators’ push to remove competition protections for the state-owned academic system is at odds with the federal lawmakers and the Biden administration’s scrutiny into hospital consolidation.

Carbon Health, Anthem BCBS publicly spar over contract negotiations

With inflation and the lingering effect of COVID-19 in the backdrop, contract negotiations between startup provider Carbon Health and insurance giant Elevance Health have turned sour—and gone public.

Nearly a third of nurses looking for the exit, survey shows. Here's what health systems can do to reverse the trend

Nurses are feeling more stress and less satisfaction with their careers and are also more likely to consider leaving their jobs than in 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey shows.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don't miss an episode

'Podnosis': Healthcare’s relationship to climate change

This week on "Podnosis," we discuss how the healthcare industry is addressing its role in climate change.
 

Resources

Research

Penn State Health increases user productivity and strengthens security with Imprivata

Learn how Penn State Health uses the Imprivata digital identity platform to give clinicians fast, secure, role-based access to healthcare IT applications and systems.
eBook

Behavioral Health: Achieving Scalable, High-Value Care

To help manage the growing population of primary care patients presenting with behavioral health needs, finding a partner that can provide the components to scale a behavioral health solution is critical.
Whitepaper

The future of patient experience: Unifying interactions in healthcare

Talkdesk, in partnership with CHIME, examines the importance of an end-to-end patient engagement strategy that is integrated with health record systems.
Research

Market Research: A New Era of Care Transformation

View new research from Huron to see where healthcare leaders are focusing their care transformation efforts and what challenges they’re trying to solve.
 

Upcoming Fierce Events

22
Jun
Free Virtual Event
18-19
Jul
July 18-19, 2023 | Jersey City, NJ
1
Aug
Date TBD | Boston, MA
11-14
Sep
Philadelphia, PA
13
Sep
Philadelphia, PA

View all events