Category: Press Release

While cross-market mergers are becoming more common in health system growth across the U.S., some CEOs are more focused on expanding access within their existing markets. Organizations that acquire or merge with hospitals in regions outside their core footprint may see benefits in payer leverage or risk diversification. However, for other systems, several factors make […]

Kelly Chaknis has been named chief operating officer of Community Medical Center-Toms River, N.J., according to a March 13 LinkedIn post. The hospital is part of West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health. Prior to her new role, Ms. Chaknis served as vice president and chief administrative officer at Bristol-Myers Sqibb Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., […]

Justin Serrano, CEO of Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville, Ala., has accepted a new role in Florida, effective April 13. Naples, Fla.-based Physicians Regional Healthcare System named Mr. Serrano CEO of its Collier Boulevard campus, according to a March 10 health system news release. Both organizations are part of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. At […]

HCA Healthcare’s CEO Sam Hazen saw his overall compensation increase by $2.7 million in 2025 as the health system reported a net income of $6.8 billion on revenue of $75.6 billion, according to a proxy statement filed March 13 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Salaries and benefits for the Nashville, Tenn.-based, 190-hospital, for-profit health […]

As patients increasingly turn to AI tools to interpret their health data, nurses are encountering new challenges at the bedside, according to a March case study in Nursing Outlook. The paper describes a chemotherapy patient who used ChatGPT to interpret her lab results before an infusion appointment, creating confusion when the AI-generated explanation conflicted with […]

Kroger is now offering Zepbound KwikPen, a multidose version of Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 weight loss drug, at participating retail pharmacy locations. The rollout marks the first time self-pay patients may be eligible to use Lilly’s savings program for Zepbound at a retail pharmacy, according to a March 13 news release from Kroger. Pharmacy staff will […]

The third round of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program is moving forward with full manufacturer participation. The program, created under the Inflation Reduction Act, allows CMS to directly negotiate prices for high-expenditure, single-source drugs covered by Medicare Part B and Part D that lack generic or biosimilar competition. The negotiated prices are scheduled to […]

New research from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is offering what the organization describes as the first publicly available data linking hospitals’ use of AI to rising healthcare costs, adding a concrete data point to a debate that has largely played out in insurers’ earnings calls and anecdotal claims. The research, conducted by BCBSA’s […]

KFF Health News southern correspondent Sam Whitehead discussed Medicaid work requirements on WUGA’s The Georgia Health Report on March 6. Click here to hear Whitehead on The Georgia Health Report. Read Whitehead’s “New Medicaid Work Rules Likely To Hit Middle-Aged Adults Hard,” co-reported with Samantha Liss. KFF Health News Colorado correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell discussed […]

If you judged by the more than 16,400 comments posted on a federal government website, you’d think there was a groundswell of older Americans demanding that federal officials hike payments to their Medicare Advantage health insurance plans.  Yet about 82% of the comments are identical to a letter that appeared on the website of a […]