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Featured Story   Provider Win: HHS Is Scrapping Its 340B Rebate Program The skinny HHS is scrapping the 340B Drug Pricing Program's proposed rebate pilot, according to a Thursday court filing. It was slated to go live on the first of the year, but courts blocked implementation before it could ever take effect, citing procedural and legal issues. The 340B program allows hospitals to buy outpatient drugs at steep discounts, and the now-axed rebate model would have invited drugmakers to participate voluntarily in a rebate-based discount system. Basically, instead of the provider receiving a discount upfront at purchase, the 340B discount would be applied after purchase via rebate — and subject to tedious data submission requirements. Why providers disproved of the idea The pilot aimed to boost transparency and prevent duplicate discounts, but it risked introducing financial challenges and added administrative burdens that would have likely disproportionately affected the smaller, safety net providers that the 340B program was initially designed to assist when it began in 1992. For instance, Bill Keeton — chief advocacy officer at Vivent Health, a nationwide provider of HIV care for low-income patients — told MedCity News in November that the model would create difficult cash flow problems for healthcare providers, especially organizations like his that have to buy HIV medications, which are incredibly expensive. Biktary, the most popular medication used to treat HIV, costs about $4,200 per month. Under 340B, clinics pay about half of that, but the rebate model could force clinics to front the full cost temporarily. What a relief "A rebate program that undermines safety-net hospitals' ability to offer more comprehensive care would only harm the nation's most vulnerable communities," American Hospital Association CEO Rick Pollack said in a statement. Tom Kraus, vice president of government relations at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, also applauded the move, calling the rebate model "unworkable and a threat to program integrity" in his statement. "Rebates in both the 340B program and the Inflation Reduction Act negotiated pricing program improperly shift costs from manufacturers to providers, effectively raising the costs of medications in direct opposition to Congressional intent. Providers should not shoulder increased costs for programs intended to require manufacturer discounts," he stated. — By Katie Adams Sponsored   Boost Patient Referrals, Engagement,and Operational Efficiency Presented by RingCentral Healthcare organizations are facing more pressure than ever to keep patients loyal and keep referral pipelines full. John Poli breaks down how modern cloud communications are doing more than just connecting calls—they are turning raw patient data into a competitive advantage.  Learn how. Top Stories   Value-Based Cardiology Startup Raises $60M The news Chamber Cardio, a value-based cardiology company, has raised $60 million in Series A funding to help the startup scale. The company Chamber Cardio works with payers and cardiologists to support value-based care programs. Its platform uses AI within clinicians' existing workflows to flag high-risk patients, spot care gaps and reduce manual work. The technology helps improve outcomes, lowers hospital use and gives payers clearer insight into cardiovascular costs and performance. Soundbite "Chamber is focused on bringing value-based care to cardiology, the single largest driver of mortality and cost in the U.S.," said George Aloth, co-founder and CEO. "We help cardiologists operate in a value-based world and scale their impact to become population health leaders in their communities." The funding The Series A round was led by Frist Cressey Ventures, with participation from General Catalyst, AlleyCorp, American Family Ventures, Company Ventures, Optum Ventures, Healthworx Ventures and Black Opal Ventures. The round also includes debt from HSBC Innovation Banking. Chamber has raised a total of $69.5 million. — By Marissa Plescia A Key Development for Stroke Patients Success for a Bayer drug After a stroke, the risk of having another one is high. In a Phase 3 clinical trial, the experimental Bayer drug asundexian reduced this risk of secondary stroke by 26%. Detailed results were presented during the International Stroke Conference in New Orleans. The drug Asundexian is a small molecule inhibitor of Factor IXa, a  protein in the coagulation cascade. The Bayer drug, formulated as a once-daily pill, is at the front a new class of medicines that includes drug candidates from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and partners Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson. Why this matters to patients Antiplatelet drugs and blood thinners can be used to reduce the chance of a secondary stroke, but these medicines increase the risk of bleeding. In results from the global Phase 3 clinical trial, called OCEANIC-STROKE, the Bayer drug not only achieved a statistically significant reduction in the risk of ischemic stroke, there was also no increase in bleeding compared to a placebo. Why this matters to Bayer Bayer is in the midst of a multi-year turnaround effort focused on streamlining operations and growing revenue. Asundexian could become an important new source of revenue. While Bayer has not offered specific financial projections for this drug, stroke is a large indication. Executives have said bringing to market the first drug in a new class of medicines for secondary stroke prevention could make asundexian a blockbuster seller. Soundbite "OCEANIC-STROKE was deliberately designed with the goal of making the findings generalizable to the many ways stroke presents in clinical practice," said Dr. Ashkan Shoamanesh, senior scientist at Population Health Research Institute and co-principal investigator of the study. "These results provide confidence that, if approved, asundexian could become an important option for secondary stroke prevention across a broad range of stroke patients."  —By Frank Vinluan  Why Agentic AI is No Longer Optional in Post-Acute Care The challenge of post-acute care Post-acute care has always operated under tight margins and heavy regulation, but the pressure facilities are facing now is fundamentally different. Leaders are being asked to improve patient outcomes, maintain airtight compliance, and secure full reimbursement in an environment defined by staffing shortages and unprecedented data complexity. Why automation has fallen short? For years, much of the industry's technology investment has focused on basic automation. Tools that summarize documents, extract fields, or flag missing information have helped reduce some manual effort, but they have not addressed the deeper operational challenges post-acute providers face every day. Admissions and nursing teams still spend an enormous amount of time reviewing documentation by hand, reconciling information across systems, and trying to interpret whether a referral is clinically appropriate, financially viable, and compliant with evolving regulations. Data fragmentation only amplifies the problem. Post-acute intake teams routinely receive information from a wide range of hospital electronic medical record systems and referral platforms, each withits own formats, terminology, and gaps. Context switching between systems slows down admissions, increases the risk of readmissions, and makes it difficult to form a clear picture of patient complexity and operational capacity. From automation to foresight The real value of AI in post-acute care is not how quickly itcan process documents, but whether it can provide foresight. That means understanding how clinical indicators, regulatory requirements, and reimbursement rules interact, and identifying risk before it turns into a denial or an audit finding. Agentic AI represents an opportunity for meaningful shifts in this direction. Rather than performing isolated tasks, these systems are designed to evaluate data holistically, takemulti-step actions, and continuously adapt as conditions change. —By MedCity Influencer Cory Evans   Video   Video: Doomed to deskilled dumb docs? Want to know more about deskilling? Read what a Lancet study found.

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The Critical Challenges Facing Post-Acute Care and Why Agentic AI Is No Longer Optional The real value of AI in post-acute care is not how quickly it can process documents, but whether it can provide foresight. That means understanding how clinical indicators, regulatory requirements, and reimbursement rules interact, and identifying risk before it turns into a denial or an audit finding.

Podcast   MedCity FemFwd: Why Women's Health Is a Scalable Sector In this episode, we're joined by Anna Jeter, co-founder and chief regulatory officer of AOA Dx. We dive into AOA Dx's recent report on women's health exits. View Now

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