It was a big week for healthcare news last week with CVS announcing its purchase of Oak Street Health, President Biden’s State of the Union address, and more, but before discussing our top 10 stories, here are a few takeaways on health equity from my time at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, one of Europe’s top business schools, last week.

What are the biggest challenges in healthcare? I’ll tackle that question this week in Paris when I speak at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, one of Europe’s top business schools. In addition to addressing this question, I’ll discuss strategies and opportunities for businesses to improve health equity around the globe. As you’ll read at the end of this newsletter, we believe enhancing health equity should be an important part of any company’s ESG mission.

After a difficult 2022, healthcare professionals’ anxiety is high. Will the financial struggles, contract disputes, rising prices and wages, and staffing shortages we saw last year continue – and will they be made worse by a recession? The answer is almost certainly yes, but we’re also likely to see continued investment in specific sectors of the health industry and federal and state agencies may make headway on health equity.

The members of the 118th Congress on the House side of Capitol Hill finally have been sworn in after a marathon fight for the chamber’s speakership. The brutal battle Americans witnessed last week is only the beginning. With Republicans in charge of the House and Democrats at the helm in the Senate, federal legislative inertia will be the norm – especially when it comes to healthcare. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sits atop that chamber’s healthcare panel. The likelihood he will see eye to eye with his GOP counterpart in the House? Small.

For this newsletter, our final edition of the year, we look at the top 10 healthcare stories of 2022… and one that will frame the healthcare and political landscape for years to come. 

We know you’ve got some eggnog and family time waiting for you somewhere, so let’s dig right in.

This week, we look at the latest trends on flu, RSV, and COVID and on hospital closures in Texas. We also examine new data on clinician burnout and venture capital investment and we discuss how mega hospital mergers affect patient care and the healthcare workforce, how the federal surprise billing regulation may benefit insurers, and whether a decision in a lawsuit against one of the country’s largest insurers will actually reform payment practices.

This week, we examine what a newly divided Congress might mean for healthcare policy and how the unwinding of the COVID public health emergency will impact insurance coverage. We also look at flu and COVID trends, ER wait times, hospital bottom lines, what private equity means for patient billing, and the “Amazon-fication” of virtual health.

This week we take a look at the 2022 election results and how they could impact policymaking; cover how the seasonal flu and RSV cases are straining hospitals and emergency rooms; discuss how to address clinician burnout; and take a look at the industry’s latest financial results and what they mean.

This week we cover the coming COVID winter, the impact of the nation’s nursing shortage and clinician burnout, hospital and insurance companies’ third-quarter financial results, increased enforcement and regulatory interest in Medicare Advantage plans, and more.

This week we cover what Medicare Advantage premiums will look like in 2023, investment in telehealth, physician burnout, and Medicare reimbursement for biosimilars and more.

This week we cover social media and medical data privacy, hospital debt and what it means for care access, increased regulation of telehealth, nonprofit hospitals and their use of the 340B program, and much more.

Whether you’re an investor, physician, or healthcare executive, it’s impossible to keep up with all the research, policy, information – and misinformation! – that will impact patients and our industry. This newsletter provides actionable intelligence to help payers, investors, practitioners, and thought leaders to solve the big problems in healthcare.

I’m back with the Top 10 things you need to know in healthcare. Read more to discover more information about COVID, monkeypox, extension of the Public Health Emergency, clinician gender-based wage gaps, and many other Big Deals in healthcare.

Finally. Young Children Are Eligible for COVID Vaccines. Omicron Subvariants Gain Ground in the US. Monkeypox: What’s In A Name? Food or Health Care: Older Adults Faced with Dire Choice. A National Medical Records Database? Doubtful. Yes, Gun Violence Is A Public Health Issue.

In this week’s edition, I’ve included information on: COVID vaccines, the emerging BA4 and BA5 variants, a new Office of Environmental Justice at HHS, Monkeypox, worrisome healthcare economic trends, and deepening concerns about the healthcare workforce.

Over the past week, healthcare news has been dizzyingly fast and consequential. As always, I’ve highlighted the Top 10 things you need to know that could affect your team, patients, your business, and even your health.

As usual, there is a lot happening in healthcare. The information below can help you to become more informed about the latest trends and news that could affect your team, patients and even your health.