Health systems are facing a mean subsidy, or loss, of $227K per employed physician, while hospitals continue to underperform due to COVID-19, Kaufman Hall reports. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is creating a perfect storm for health systems, which appear to be taking hits on both the hospital and physician practice sides of their business. The latest National Hospital Flash Report from consulting firm Kaufman Hall found that the median hospital operating margin index is well below 2019 performance at 2.7 percent year-to-date through September even with federal aid from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. Without CARES Act funding, the median hospital operating margin index is -1.9 percent. Additionally, the Kaufman Hall earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin index was well below 2019 performance, standing at 7.5 percent year-to-date with CARES Act funding and 3.2 percent without funding from the CARES Act. Mea...

Telemedicine has helped millions during COVID-19, and its expansion needs to stay after the pandemic is over. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC is nothing my medical school training could ever have prepared me for. As a neurologist, I have witnessed strains on my patients, colleagues and the medical institution where I work up close. In my headache medicine practice, I have started to see a rising number of people with cases or suspected cases of COVID-19 complaining of new or worsening headaches.[ READ: Telehealth Continues Rapid Growth Amid Coronavirus Pandemic ] Fortunately, because of federal and state changes allowing for expanded coverage of telemedicine and because private insurers have followed along, I have been able to see these patients safely and without risk of exposure. Before the pandemic, telemedicine coverage by neurologists was largely limited, often restricted to rural communities and cases of stroke care. Just a few months before the pandemic, I hesitated to adopt telemedi...