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With 2026 midterm elections around the corner, nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults are concerned about affording healthcare, according to an April 29 KFF poll. The survey canvassed 1,343 U.S. adults, of whom 1,107 were registered to vote. Here are six notes from the poll: 1. The share of adults concerned…

Rural healthcare is at an inflection point. Hospitals are closing or scaling back essential services. Labor and delivery units are disappearing. Rural operating rooms sit idle not due to a lack of patients, but to a shortage of clinicians. At the same time, policymakers are advancing initiatives like the President’s…

Medical liability insurance premiums increased nationwide for the seventh consecutive year in 2025, marking the longest sustained upward trend since the early 2000s, according to new research from the American Medical Association. AMA published two policy research reports on medical liability April 27. The first analyzes annual changes in medical…

New Mexico is the most at-risk state for drug use, according to an April 29 ranking from personal finance website WalletHub. The list was created to determine where drug use is most pronounced and which areas are most at risk by comparing the 50 states and Washington, D.C. across 20…

As part of a goal to return 10 million clinical hours to clinicians by 2028, Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health is piloting an ambient AI documentation tool for nursing units — a largely unprecedented goal for health system AI projects.  The system operates 32 hospital campuses and approximately 700 care sites throughout…

The majority of nurses working in long-term care said they are happy in their position, but 73.8% have reported their job has become more difficult in the last 18 months, a recent American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing survey found. The survey of nearly 500 nurses and certified nurse aides,…

Six healthcare organizations — including one health system — have been recognized on LinkedIn’s list of the 50 best U.S. employers to grow careers. The LinkedIn Top Companies 2026 list features organizations that provide employees with skill-building and advancement opportunities, according to an April 28 LinkedIn News post. It is…

Physicians are increasingly uncertain if their career choice was worth the debt they took on for training — and some of them would not choose medicine again under new federal caps on student loans, according to new data from Panacea Financial shared with Becker’s. The survey included responses from 270…

Hospitals are bracing for a cascade of financial pressures as rising insurance costs, Medicaid restrictions and a growing number of uninsured patients threaten to reshape patient behavior and erode margins in the years ahead, according to a new Moody’s Healthcare Quarterly report. From declining elective procedure volumes to worsening payer…

Revenue cycle leaders are facing a national coder shortage, intensifying payer complexity and tighter margins. In this environment, AI has become an operational necessity, not a strategic option. But the differentiator isn’t tool selection; it’s whether leaders have reframed workforce and governance for a technology that now arrives continuously, not…

Maine is the best state for nurses to practice in 2026, according to WalletHub’s annual ranking, which evaluates opportunity, competition and working conditions.  To determine the best and worst states for nurses, the personal finance company evaluated all 50 states across two two dimensions: opportunity and competition, and work environment.…

WalletHub released its 2026 ranking of the best and worst entry-level jobs April 27, and certified nursing assistants in nursing homes claimed the No. 3 spot — driven by a 2.9% unemployment rate, high job availability, and one of the lowest chances of being replaced by automation.   To identify the…

Nurse shortages and mounting labor costs remain among health system CEOs’ top concerns, and the newest NSI survey puts fresh numbers on the financial risks hospitals face from vacancies and churn. The 2026 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report features input from 527 hospitals in 40 states…

Nurses’ assessment of staffing adequacy is a more accurate predictor of patient falls on medical surgical units than traditional data, a recent study found.  The study was conducted by Philadelphia-based Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, and was published in the May/June 2026 issue of Nursing Outlook.…

Florida has the highest number of “best” senior living communities, while three states — Alaska, Montana and North Dakota — have no top-ranked communities, according to an April 14 U.S News & World Report ranking.  In its 5th annual Best Senior Living ratings, U.S. News honored a total of 1,614…

In 2024, the uninsured rate grew for the first time since 2019, according to an April 9 KFF issue brief. KFF reviewed data on uninsured trends and demographics in recent years, focusing on individuals under 65 years old. Following a pandemic-era rollback of redeterminations, people eventually began facing eligibility checks after Medicaid’s continuous…

With the United States facing an estimated deficit of more than 250,000 registered nurses by 2028, the nursing shortage is seemingly hard to escape right now: It is dominating headlines, part of policy debates and seen in the lived experiences of anyone who has waited for hours in an understaffed…

Health systems and specialty practices are under increasing pressure to accelerate patient access to therapies. Fragmented workflows, disconnected systems and administrative work continue to slow that process. During a recent webinar hosted by Becker’s Healthcare and CoverMyMeds, leaders from CoverMyMeds and Ontada explored how integrated technology and AI-powered automation can…

Per-person healthcare spending among people with employer-sponsored insurance averaged $6,711 nationally in 2022, though this figure varies significantly by geography, according to an April 9 report from the Health Care Cost Institute.  To compile the report, the nonprofit research institute analyzed spending data across 269 individual metro areas in 45…

More hospitals and health systems are leaning on discharge lounges to decongest EDs and improve patient experience, but there are no industrywide procedures for setting up a lounge. The first lounges were piloted around 2020 and have gained popularity over the last few years. Palos Heights, Ill.-based Northwestern Medicine Palos…

About one-third of Americans say they get health information from social media, while a smaller but growing share turn to artificial intelligence chatbots, according to an April 7 analysis from Pew Research Center. The findings, based on a survey of 5,111 adults conducted in October 2025, highlight how digital platforms…

In a reversal of a three-year trend, job satisfaction among nurses is declining and more are considering leaving the profession, according to a recent survey of 2,090 nurses.  Nurse.org, a news and educational website focused on the nursing profession, surveyed its audience of active nurses and nursing students in February…

So far in 2026, The Joint Commission — the oldest and world’s largest standard-setting and accrediting body in healthcare — has launched two outcomes-driven certifications and condensed serious safety event lists.  Here are four updates the accrediting body has announced since January, starting with the most recent: 1. The organization…

Massachusetts is the best state for children’s healthcare, WalletHub found. The personal finance website compared the 50 states and District of Columbia across three dimensions: kids’ health and access to healthcare; kids’ nutrition, physical activity and obesity; and kids’ oral health. Each state was evaluated using 33 metrics, which was…