September 07, 2022
LAUREN BERRYMAN
Walmart will provide preventive care services to UnitedHealth Group Medicare Advantage customers under a 10-year deal the companies announced Wednesday.
UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Optum’s data and analytics tools will guide Walmart Health clinicians to provide value-based care for Medicare beneficiaries, according to the companies. The initiative will begin in January at 15 Walmart Health locations in Florida and Georgia before expanding elsewhere, and the partners project it eventually will serve hundreds of thousands of patients. The companies also will market a co-branded Medicare Advantage plan in Georgia and Walmart Health Virtual Care will be in-network for some UnitedHealthcare commercial members in January.
August 30, 2022
MAYA GOLDMAN
The surprise billing arbitration process has gotten off to a rocky start.
Insurers are accusing providers of submitting every possible claim, even when they know some cases are not eligible for mediation. Providers allege insurers are holding up the federal dispute process by delaying submissions of clear and complete information. The recently published final rule on the process from the Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury departments likely will not resolve all these problems.
August 26, 2022
MARI DEVEREAUX
Health systems strapped for resources worry that reporting on new quality measures and transitioning to interoperability as part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ final rule will be overly burdensome.
As a result, some hospitals want CMS to offer adequate financial and technological support. For larger systems with deeper resources, the rule doesn’t seem to be a big lift.
August 12, 2022
KARA HARTNETT
The Joint Commission has established new accreditation standards to accelerate equity efforts within healthcare organizations.
As of Jan. 1, accreditation programs for primary care clinics, behavioral health centers, critical access facilities and hospitals will include new mandates for their leaders.