Healthcare

Emergency departments across the U.S. are under unprecedented strain, with overcrowding, staffing shortages, and inpatient bed constraints converging into a throughput crisis. The American Hospital Association reports that hospital capacity and workforce growth have lagged, intensifying delays from arrival to disposition. At the same time, advances in artificial intelligence are moving from experimental to operational—raising…

Dementia is becoming one of healthcare’s most difficult problems to ignore. As the population ages, more families are finding themselves responsible for loved ones who can no longer manage their own care, communicate symptoms clearly, or navigate the healthcare system. Research shows that people living with dementia are hospitalized far more often than those without it—even…

Sterile Processing Departments (SPDs) remain the backbone of safe surgical care, yet across the country, they’re still routinely left out of early decision-making around products, construction, staffing, and case planning. As hospitals juggle tighter margins, higher patient acuity, and growing procedural demands, the consequences of excluding SPD voices become unmistakably real—showing up in daily…

Sterile Processing Departments (SPDs) are the unsung backbone of surgical care — ensuring every instrument, tray, and tool is safe, sterile, and ready when needed. Yet, despite their vital role, SPD workflows often rely on manual processes and underrecognized best practices. As healthcare systems push for greater efficiency and staff well-being, SPD managers are turning…

Across America, rural hospitals are facing an existential crisis. From physician burnout and recruitment struggles to malpractice insurance woes and shrinking OB units, the challenges facing small health systems are multiplying. According to the National Rural Health Association, roughly 190 rural hospitals have closed down or discontinued inpatient care since 2010 — and many more…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just a buzzword in healthcare — it’s becoming a real partner in how providers care for patients and improve everyday experiences. With rising patient expectations, limited resources, and mounting administrative complexity, hospitals and insurers alike are turning to AI to improve efficiency, communication, and satisfaction. In fact, Citi research…

Hospitals today are juggling tighter budgets, shifting regulations, and increasingly savvy patients—all while trying to keep financial operations running smoothly. That pressure has made the revenue cycle a powerful lever for innovation. The spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation is no longer experimental; it’s reshaping how health systems manage billing, reimbursement, and patient engagement….

Hospitals today are fighting a two-front battle — one against increasingly sophisticated payers armed with automation and AI, and another to meet patients’ rising expectations for clarity and convenience. A recent joint study by Knowtion Health and the Healthcare Financial Management Association found that nearly one in two revenue cycle executives now identify payer denials…

Healthcare is evolving faster than ever—from the surge of AI-driven automation to rising patient expectations for seamless, consumer-style care. Amid this transformation, leaders face the challenge of keeping technology human. According to Deloitte’s 2025 Global Health Care Outlook, seven in ten C-suite healthcare executives across five countries say improving operational efficiency and productivity is a…

Hospitals collect enormous amounts of clinical data, yet preventable patient decline remains a persistent challenge. Over the past two decades, hospitals have invested heavily in early warning scores and rapid response infrastructure, but translating data into timely, meaningful action has proven difficult. As clinicians contend with alert fatigue and increasing documentation burden, a more…

Healthcare generates enormous volumes of clinical data, yet making sense of that information in real time remains a challenge. Subtle changes in vitals, labs, and nursing assessments often precede serious events, but when that information is fragmented across the medical record, emerging risks can go unnoticed. The central challenge facing hospitals today is not…

As hospitals across the U.S. shorten length of stay and push more recovery into the home, families are increasingly left to manage complex care needs without formal training or support. Roughly one in five patients with chronic conditions like COPD or congestive heart failure is readmitted within 30 days—a cycle that costs the healthcare…

As healthcare systems worldwide face rising costs, workforce shortages, and increasing pressure to balance quality with financial sustainability, traditional classroom-based management education is struggling to keep pace. According to the World Economic Forum, healthcare spending now accounts for nearly 10% of global GDP, making leadership decision-making more consequential—and more complex—than ever. At the same…

Insurance denials aren’t new, but they’re hitting a breaking point right now. As prior authorizations surge and patients face longer delays for everything from imaging to specialty drugs, more providers are realizing that the “payer” on the card often isn’t the one truly holding the reins. A growing share of Americans are covered…

Cardiovascular care is entering one of its most transformative periods in decades. Advances in AI imaging and minimally invasive procedures are transforming the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 19.8 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2022, representing approximately 32% of all global deaths. This…

Healthcare is at a critical turning point, where staffing pressures, shrinking reimbursements, and rising patient expectations are reshaping the future of healthcare. According to the AACN Nursing Workforce Fact Sheet, the federal government projects more than 203,000 new registered nurse positions will be created annually from 2021 to 2031, reflecting high demand from an…

Hospitals are juggling shrinking margins and rising costs while denial volumes remain stubbornly high. In the revenue cycle alone, hundreds of billions are lost annually to preventable errors and inefficiencies—in fact, Access Healthcare CEO Shaji Ravi cites more than $250 billion wasted each year. Meanwhile, payers have accelerated their use of AI to adjudicate…

Critical care in the United States faces a mounting crisis. With a shortage of board-certified intensivists and younger, less experienced nurses filling ICUs, hospitals often struggle to provide timely, gold-standard care. Studies show that hospitals with board-certified intensivists in their ICUs see a 30% reduction in patient mortality, yet thousands of facilities still lack…

Episode 4 of The Future of Patient Monitoring takes a step back from infrastructure and innovation to explore something deeper: the people behind the technology—and what they’ve learned through years of building smarter systems. Part of the Health and Life Sciences at the Edge podcast series, this conversation is led by Intel’s Kaeli Tully,…

The Care Anywhere podcast is spotlighting a new global partnership designed to strengthen pediatric nursing education and recognition worldwide. In this episode, host Lea Sims sits down with leaders from TruMerit and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) to unpack a new pediatric nursing micro-credential pathway launching in 2026, and why it…

As hospitals look beyond the ICU to improve outcomes across the entire continuum of care, a key question emerges: how do you expand patient monitoring without overwhelming clinicians with more alarms, more noise, and more work? This episode—part three of a five-part Health and Life Sciences at the Edge series exploring The Future of…

Denials are no longer a slow leak in the revenue cycle—they’re a fast-moving, rule-shifting game controlled by payers, and hospitals that don’t model denial patterns in real time end up budgeting around losses they could have prevented. PayerWatch’s four-digit, client-verified ROI in 2024 shows what happens when a hospital stops reacting claim by…

Health insurers love to advertise themselves as guardians of care, but the real story often begins when a patient’s life no longer fits neatly into a spreadsheet. In oncology especially, “coverage” isn’t a bureaucratic checkbox—it’s the fragile bridge between a treatment that finally works and a relapse that can undo years of grit…

In “Fighting for Coverage,” a patient describes a double war: the physical fight to stay alive and the bureaucratic fight to prove to an insurer that her life is worth the cost. Her account spotlights a core tension in the U.S. system—coverage decisions are increasingly shaped by prior authorizations and desk-based reviewers who…

Patients shouldn’t have to become their own case managers just to access a hip replacement, transplant, or any other life-changing procedure; the moment they’re pushed into a paperwork fight, the system has already shifted its burden onto the sick. In a functional healthcare model, clinicians and their teams handle the insurer negotiations behind…

Physician advisors are becoming the quiet linchpin of hospital resilience in a reimbursement environment where insurers increasingly treat care like a spreadsheet exercise. As payers tighten criteria and automate denials, the gap between clinical reality and business logic widens—and without a skilled physician advisor (and a disciplined appeals pathway), health systems risk watching…

Payer denials used to feel like a series of personal affronts—clinicians and administrators trading war stories in hallways, certain they were being shortchanged but lacking the proof to do more than fume. Today, that fog should be lifting: with data warehouses, smarter analytics, and years of claims history, hospitals can pinpoint which payers…