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Rural hospitals may have to cut investments into telehealth and remote patient monitoring programs as they deal with potential changes beyond their control. The policymaking uncertainty in Washington, D.C., is affecting all of healthcare and is particularly challenging for providers in rural areas. Cuts to Medicaid are on the table and the fate of Medicare telemedicine reimbursement flexibilities is in doubt. (Perna, 3/14)

Congress completed work on a government funding bill Friday that modestly trims spending, gives President Donald Trump greater flexibility to cut programs and extends expiring healthcare priorities. In a 54-46 vote, the Senate approved legislation the House passed Tuesday that prevents the partial government shutdown that would have commenced at midnight EDT. Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, broke with the minority party to vote in favor and Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was the lone Republican to vote nay. Trump intends to sign the bill. (McAuliff, 3/14)

Long-term acute care hospital operator Landmark Holdings of Florida filed for Chapter 11 protections this week, citing high costs and “plateaued” reimbursement rates in the years following the onset of the pandemic. The Naples, Florida-based company currently owns and operates five hospitals in Georgia and Missouri and manages a sixth in Florida, none of which it plans to immediately close. It employs about 625 workers (340 full-time) and brought in revenue of $79.4 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023. (Muoio, 3/14)

The Minnesota Attorney General's office reached a settlement with Mayo Clinic related to the nonprofit system's charity care practices. Mayo Clinic must continue to provide charity care to "presumptively eligible" patients and streamline its application process, according to a Friday news release from the attorney general's office. The system is barred from suing to collect medical debt outside of extraordinary circumstances, such as when a patient keeps payment from an insurer that is intended to cover care costs. (Hudson, 3/14)

The nursing home industry is slowly recovering from the “gut punch” the COVID-19 pandemic dealt the industry five years ago, said Clifton Porter, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association. Porter said capacity and staffing are improving for an industry that saw nearly 700 nursing homes shut down and 250,000 workers leave their jobs as the coronavirus infected more than 2 million skilled nursing facility residents and staff. (Eastabrook, 3/14)

The next time you’re due for a medical exam you may get a call from someone like Ana: a friendly voice that can help you prepare for your appointment and answer any pressing questions you might have. ... Ana has been trained to put patients at ease — like many nurses across the U.S. But unlike them, she is also available to chat 24-7, in multiple languages. That’s because Ana isn’t human, but an artificial intelligence program created by Hippocratic AI, one of a number of new companies offering ways to automate time-consuming tasks usually performed by nurses and medical assistants. (Perrone, 3/16)

Dr. Sheldon Greenfield, whose pioneering research found that older patients with breast and pancreatic cancer got subpar treatment and that patients who grill their doctors during consultations receive better care, died on Feb. 26 at his home in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 86. The cause was colon cancer, his daughter Lauren Greenfield said. (Roberts, 3/14)