Modern Healthcare reporters had a lot of territory to cover in 2023 as the industry's landscape shifted to account for new players and strategies, mergers, labor actions and layoffs. And as it does every year, our newsroom brought readers the headlines along with the insights and analysis needed to make sense of it all.
Want to catch up on a busy year? Check out these stories.
Layoffs, benefit cuts follow Medicare Advantage pay reductions
To adjust for lower Medicare Advantage revenue, health insurers laid off thousands of workers and scaled back benefits such as over-the counter product allowances and increased cost-sharing responsibilities for the 2024 plan year.
Rapid growth predicted for hospital-at-home market
Demographics and technology are expected to create a multitude of opportunities for companies in the hospital-at-home market in the coming years, despite uncertainty about interest rates and reimbursement for home-based care. The sector is expected to grow 50% to nearly $300 billion by 2028.
Providers, beware. HCA is coming for your market share
HCA Healthcare has more than $5 billion in approved capital projects set to be completed in the next two years, and a key focus is adding hospitals in existing markets. "Where you compete is just as important as how you compete," said Samuel Hazen, HCA's CEO.
Cuts ahead: Health systems rethink non-clinical job needs
Non-clinical employees in all kinds of roles, from back-office billing to the executive ranks, saw their jobs eliminated as health systems tried to flatten their organizations. Patient volumes are rebounding but not necessarily at a pace that exceeds the rising costs of labor and supplies, among other things.
Why health systems are dropping their IT teams
Are in-house IT departments a casualty of the digital transformation? Some health systems are transitioning their analytics and tech employees to managed service companies in a process called rebadging as they try to scale initiatives while controlling costs.
What happens when a health insurance company fails
The health insurance market was certainly challenged in 2023, and insurtechs found themselves struggling to compete against legacy companies. The number of exchange insurers leaving states hit a level not seen since 2017.
The $100,000 signing bonus: What hospitals are doing to woo workers
Hospitals are getting creative in their strategies to recruit and retain front-line employees and reduce their use of contract workers. That has created challenges for hospitals in rural communities that aren't able to match, much less top, those offers.
Upstart PBMs aim to shake up the market
A number of upstarts have a two-pronged strategy: pitch potential customers on what they say is their more transparent PBM model while also pushing Congress to rein in the big players in the space. Both strategies face obstacles.
How health inequity maps out across America
Modern Healthcare sought to map the parts of the U.S. with the poorest access to healthcare and highest levels of social vulnerability. The results identified areas with some common problems but unique circumstances, and highlighted some of the U.S. healthcare system's shortcomings.
Dr. ChatGPT: A guide to generative AI in healthcare
Interest is generative AI and its use in healthcare will only grow as health systems, vendors and others seek to use it to tackle fundamental challenges. This is a primer for what everyone is talking about.
