Alexandra Murphy

More than three decades ago, Congress created the 340B program to help safety-net hospitals and clinics​​ expand resources and care for underserved communities.  By requiring pharmaceutical companies to offer deep discounts on outpatient drugs, the program has become a hallmark resource to help health systems support vulnerable patients. In recent…

NYC Health + Hospitals said Aug. 21 it has saved more than $88 million in nurse turnover costs so far in 2025 after reducing its nurse turnover rate to well below the national average. The New York City-based system’s nursing workforce includes about 9,600 employees. Through several initiatives, the organization…

Increasing access and coverage for healthcare services for all women, with a specific focus on Black women, is crucial to closing racial disparities in maternal outcomes, according to a report from the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility.  In 2023, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was approximately 50 deaths…

Hawaii, Idaho and Utah had the lowest breast cancer screening recall rates, an indicator of imaging efficiency, between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, according to CMS data published Aug. 6. New York had the highest recall rate for the same time period.  The national breast cancer screening recall…

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente has named Jeff Krawcek, MD, as executive vice president and CEO of the KP Medical Foundation, effective Sept. 10. Dr. Krawcek has 25 years of experience as a pediatrician, according to an Aug. 20 health system news release. He currently serves as president and executive medical…

Hospitals have spent years working to ease nurse shortages; however, they are now facing a catch-22 in the nursing workforce. More experienced nurses are retiring in waves, and nurses with a few years of experience are pursuing non-bedside roles such as leadership. But hospitals still need nurses at the bedside. …

A large-scale, real-world analysis of 15,639 patients treated with Collagenase SANTYL◊ Ointment underscores the clinical and economic benefits of early enzymatic debridement in wound management. Using NetHealth registry data from 2020–2023, the retrospective study, led by Boxuan Li, PhD, and colleagues, demonstrates that initiating SANTYL therapy early can accelerate wound…

The U.S. has reached an agreement with the European Union to cap levies on pharmaceutical exports to 15%, according to a joint statement released Aug. 20.  The announcement sheds more light on a trade agreement the two struck in July, making clear that tariffs on drug imports and semiconductors —…

Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network recorded an operating income of $64 million (4.5% operating margin), up from an operating loss of $25.9 million (-2.1% margin) during the same period last year, according to its Aug. 21 financial report.  The system reported total operating revenue of $1.4 billion during the three months…

Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Hospital had the lowest rate of unplanned hospital visits among coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024, according to CMS data published Aug. 6.  The CMS measure is based on the unplanned hospital visits — including emergency department, under observation…

Independent pharmacies in the U.S. saw nearly equivalent numbers of openings and closures, indicating a stable and healthy rate of market churn, according to a study published Aug. 1 in JAMA Health Forum.  The research analyzed more than 60,000 community pharmacies from 2010 to 2023 and found that independent and…

The use of ambient AI scribes led to a sharp drop in burnout and an increase in well-being among clinicians at Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham and Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare, a new study found. The health systems surveyed over 1,400 physicians and advanced practice providers who were piloting ambient documenting…

A cross-sectional study found that while the Inflation Reduction Act capped out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries at $2,000 starting in 2025, many enrollees may still face higher cost-sharing due to changes in plan design.  The research, published Aug. 18 in JAMA Health Forum, showed that between 2019…

Hospitals and health systems are reporting financial losses tied to new EHR implementations. New York City-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center posted a $113.2 million operating loss in the first half of 2025, citing higher expenses and one-time costs from its Epic EHR rollout. In an Aug. 15 news release,…

Hundreds of CDC workers are receiving permanent layoff notices, according to an Aug. 21 report from The Washington Post, which is based on interviews with sources familiar with the matter.  Officials with the American Federation of Government Employees — the union representing more than 2,000 agency workers — told the…

A law firm filed a lawsuit Aug. 20 against a New York City hospital’s construction company, alleging the company failed to treat bacteria-infected water in its cooling towers, leading to a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak.  City officials have identified live Legionella bacteria in 12 cooling towers as the center of the…

Westchester Medical Center Health Network in Valhalla, N.Y., is the state’s largest Medicaid provider north of New York City. It also has the only burn unit in the region, a pediatric hospital and 300 inpatient mental health beds as well as a resident training program. “We really are an integral…

Epic unveiled a flurry of new features at its annual Users Group Meeting this week. What do health system executives think? IT leaders told Beckers at the event that they’re excited about the potential AI capabilities and eagerly anticipate the rollout for many of them. Epic is weaving AI into…

Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare is implementing virtual technology to reduce emergency department wait times at its St. Elizabeth Medical Center locations in Ottawa and Peru, Ill. Patients who meet certain clinical criteria are triaged into virtual care rooms, where a nurse facilitates a video connection with a remote physician. The…

A regulatory loophole has allowed hundreds of large, urban hospitals to claim rural benefits, raising alarms from lawmakers and experts who warn that taxpayer dollars are being diverted from the very communities Congress intended to protect. In 2016, CMS revised its regulations in response to two federal court decisions: Geisinger…

Austin-based Texas Children’s Hospital named Jennifer Pugh, DNP, APRN, nurse executive of its North Austin campus. Dr. Pugh, a pediatric nurse practitioner, previously served as associate chief nursing officer and executive director of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, according to an Aug. 18 Texas Children’s news release. She has more than…

A former Emory Healthcare finance department employee filed a class-action lawsuit alleging the Atlanta-based system violated the federal WARN Act by laying off workers without the required 60 days’ notice. On Aug. 12, Emory laid off some financial services and revenue cycle positions in an “effort to streamline operations and…

CEOs are turning to front-line employees for insights shaping systemwide strategies. Since becoming president and CEO of Joplin, Mo.-based Freeman Health System in April, Matthew Fry has held front-line listening sessions he described as invaluable. A recurring theme quickly emerged: The organization needed clear direction. “They felt like they were…

More hospitals and health systems should be focusing on developing evidence-based clinical pathways as part of broader efforts to free up capacity and improve operational efficiency, according to Chhavi Katyal, MD, senior vice president and chief quality officer at Catholic Health in Rockville Centre, N.Y. “One thing that gets overlooked…