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The Department of Veterans Affairs has changed its process for veterans to get medical care from non-VA providers, removing a requirement that a referral to community care be reviewed by another VA doctor. The VA announced Monday that it is enacting a provision of the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act that will help ease veterans' access to medical services from private providers. (Kime, 5/19)

Ascension reported Monday a $466 million loss from operations (-2.3% operating margin) and $195 million of net income for the nine months ended March 31. The large nonprofit painted these results progress as it adjusts its hospital portfolio and recovers from last year’s major cybersecurity attack. The performance is a step back from the $238 million operating loss (-1.1% operating margin) and $343 million net income Ascension had logged across the first nine months of its prior fiscal year, even when including that period’s more substantial net impairment and nonrecurring losses ($85 million in nine months of FY 2025 versus $253 million in nine months of FY 2024). (Muoio, 5/19)

Three of private equity firm New Mountain Capital's portfolio companies have combined to form Smarter Technologies, which offers an artificial intelligence-powered revenue cycle management platform. Access Healthcare, SmarterDx and Thoughtful.ai each provide services to operate the platform, the private equity firm said in a Monday news release. All three companies earlier this year received strategic growth investments from New Mountain Capital. Financial details were not disclosed. (DeSilva, 5/19)

Health systems and insurers are devising ways to improve the patient experience and outcomes while generating a real return on investment for their companies. They are changing the way care is scheduled, expanding communication platforms and improving training. The initiatives aren’t happening just because it’s the right thing for organizations to do. They are often tied to specific metrics and are expected to benefit the bottom line. (Perna and Berryman, 5/19)

Lifepoint Health is confident about its plans for expansion into new markets and existing investments, even as federal policy uncertainty has forced some systems to cut jobs and reassess construction projects. Brentwood, Tennessee-based Lifepoint operates 60 community hospitals, more than 60 rehabilitation and behavioral health hospitals and 250 other care sites, including managed acute rehabilitation units, outpatient centers and post-acute care facilities. (Hudson, 5/19)

AdventHealth Orlando has announced plans to erect a $660 billion, 14-story medical tower on its main campus that includes expanded specialty treatments. It’s part of a long-term, multiphase $1 billion investment that the nonprofit health system calls Central Florida’s “largest single investment in health care.” (Mayer, 5/19)

U.S. hospitals and health systems in many regions are seeing a sharp rise in uncompensated care, with new data showing big increases in bad debt and charity care deductions during the first quarter of 2025. “Disruptions in health insurance coverage can drive increases in bad debt and charity care deductions for U.S. hospitals and health systems. According to the latest data from Q1 2025, health systems across the country already experienced significant increases in bad debt and charity deductions in recent years,” noted Strata in its “Healthcare Performance Trends: Q1 2025” report. (Dyrda, 5/19)