Democrats want healthcare provisions included in the upcoming reconciliation bill. Will they succeed? I’m Jeff Lagasse with Healthcare Finance News, and we’ll get to the bottom of that and more in this week’s Top Stories.
If the healthcare provisions in the reconciliation bill are passed, deficits would increase by $553.2 billion from 2022 to 2031, according to cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. But the number of people without health insurance would decrease by about 3.9 million people. Healthcare Finance News reports (https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/cbo-estimates-553-billion-price-tag-healthcare-provisions-reconciliation-package) that the Senate and the House have passed a budget resolution for FY 2022 that authorizes the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. Passage has been along party lines. But within the Democratic Party there is disagreement on the price tag. Near unanimous Democratic support is needed for enactment of the package. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated October 31 as the date for a breakthrough in the stalemate.
Google Care Studio has unveiled a new mobile version of its clinician-facing search tool that helps organize patients' medical records. According to MobiHealthNews (https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/google-rolls-out-mobile-app-version-care-studio), the company pitches this new modality as a way for doctors to check in on a patient or access patient information on the go. Care Studio was previously unveiled on desktop, however Google is pitching the mobile version as a way for doctors to use the tool on the move. Currently Google is in the process of acceptance testing with Ascension and Beth Israel. The company is looking to pilot the tool with Ascension in the fourth quarter.
Finally this week, HealthcareITNews has debuted a series (https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/how-cios-are-prioritizing-ai-investments-next-5-years) examining how CIOs are prioritizing AI investments over the next several years, with the inaugural story featuring B.J. Moore, CIO of Providence, which operates 52 hospitals across seven states. Moore and his team have been making significant use of AI and machine learning, and it's an area that will see increased investment over the next five years. The provider organization has been using machine learning for predictive analytics extensively to meet surges and declines with COVID-19, and it plans to continue to invest in similar areas.
I’m Jeff Lagasse with Healthcare Finance News, and this has been Top Stories.