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Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Waystar Study Highlights AI's Critical Role, Proven ROI in Healthcare Payments
Waystar Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:WAY) is one of the best new stocks to buy now. On June 23, Waystar announced the findings of a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting. The study is titled 'AI in Healthcare Payments Software: A Strategic Imperative,' and revealed that AI is becoming increasingly critical in revenue cycle management/RCM due to its proven impact and measurable ROI. The research shows acceleration in AI adoption within healthcare. 82% of healthcare leaders now consider AI an integral part of their RCM operations, with 70% identifying it as a top organizational priority. The study also found that AI is delivering improvements in key revenue cycle metrics, such as a 13% to 37% improvement in high-impact areas such as claim accuracy, denial prevention, workforce efficiency, and payment speed. A medical professional with a patient explaining the effects of neurostimulation treatments. Trust in AI is growing, with 60% of decision-makers reporting increased confidence since implementing AI. ~ 70% of healthcare leaders view AI as a high or critical organizational priority, and 60% plan to increase their AI investment. The study is based on responses from 300+ healthcare leaders and highlights a preference for existing RCM software partners when it comes to AI capabilities. Waystar serves ~30,000 clients and represents over 1 million distinct providers, including 16 of the top 20 institutions on the US News Best Hospitals list. Waystar Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:WAY) develops a cloud-based software solution for healthcare payments. While we acknowledge the potential of WAY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Zawya
04-07-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Africa: How to escape the trap of curative consumption for health production?
Africa stands at a pivotal moment in its health journey. While challenges such as shifting global priorities and reduced donor support are significant, the more pressing issue lies within the very foundation of our health systems. At the heart of the problem is a structural design that focuses more on responding to illness than on keeping people healthy. With a population of over 1.4 billion — and expected to represent one in five people globally in the near future — the continent finds itself caught in a troubling paradox. Even as we make strides in managing infectious diseases, many African health systems remain under-resourced, stretched thin, and heavily reliant on curative care. The emphasis continues to be on costly, hospital-based treatments rather than on prevention, health education, and community-based approaches that could ease the burden of disease and improve overall well-being. This model is neither sustainable nor equitable, and it keeps us locked in what I call the 'curative consumption trap.' It drains our already limited resources, perpetuates inequities, and undermines our vision for universal health coverage (UHC). It's time to shift from a reactive, hospital-centric model to one that invests in health production — resilient, community-driven, people-centred systems that prevent disease, empower people, and build a healthier future for all Africans. A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that high-income countries spend around $4,000 per capita on healthcare, mostly through public financing. In sub-Saharan Africa, that figure is closer to $40, and that's assuming countries meet the aspirational goal of allocating 15 percent of national budgets to health. Most do not. Can Africa afford healthcare as currently structured? The answer is clearly no. This consumption-based model has colonial roots built for the rich who came to Africa and needed a health system that reflected their needs as they were used to back in their home countries and reinforced by political incentives that favour short-term infrastructure projects over long-term people-centred reforms. During the recent Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) 2025 in Kigali, it was evident that many African health systems still focus on treating disease rather than preventing it — a legacy that must be urgently overcome. The curative consumption trap: A vicious cycleHospitals and clinics often serve as the epicentre of care, with resources skewed toward expensive, tertiary-level interventions that politicians prioritise to appeal to voters. This curative bias is evident and at the expense of addressing preventative measures needed to reduce the disease burden, such as the rising tide of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. In 2019, NCDs accounted for 37 percent of deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, up from 24 percent in 2000, and the burden is rising. Our systems are ill-equipped to manage this growing crisis. The curative consumption trap is fuelled by several factors. First, a post-colonial bias for infrastructure-heavy, specialist-led care over community-based approaches informed by the health needs of those who built the health systems. Second, a health workforce trained to treat illness, not promote wellness. In medical school, for instance, I recall spending just one lethargic month on community health attachment, compared to years learning about diagnosis, surgery, and pharmacology. This narrative is supported by political incentive as infrastructure is a politician vote driver and historical budgeting approaches prioritise infrastructure and equipment procurement. Third, a lack of trust in unfriendly distant supply-driven health systems leads people to seek care only when they are really sick, resulting in late diagnoses and high treatment costs. This isn't just a health issue, but a social and economic crisis. When systems focus on curing instead of preventing, they consume scarce financial and human resources while ignoring root causes such as unsafe water, poor sanitation, undernutrition, and the proliferation of unhealthy processed foods full of industrial trans fats and sweetened beverages. The result is high costs for health services with families pushed into poverty by catastrophic healthcare costs from out of pocket expenditure. The result is a vicious cycle where illness perpetuates poverty, and poverty perpetuates illness. Shifting the focus to health productionTo break this cycle, we need to embrace a model of health production: one that keeps people healthy, empowers communities, and addresses social determinants of health. It should be proactive, equitable, people-centred and sustainable, ensuring that every African has access to the tools and knowledge to live a healthy life, including reproductive health services for adolescents and women. This requires two major shifts. First, we must prioritise preventive and promotive health. Prevention is the cornerstone of health production. Evidence shows that primary healthcare, with a focus on primary care and prevention, community empowerment and engagement and multi-sectorial approaches improves health outcomes, enhances equity, and increases system efficiency. Yet, only 48 percent of Africans have access to primary healthcare services, leaving 615 million people without adequate services. To address this, we need to invest in community health systems including Community Health workers (CHWs), who are the backbone of primary healthcare. CHWs are often the first and only point of contact for underserved communities. They deliver preventive services such as vaccines, they educate communities on healthy practices, and detect early warning signs of disease, yet, many remain underpaid, undertrained, and disconnected from formal health systems. Governments need to commit to financing and integrating CHW programmes into national health systems, as outlined in the 2018 WHO guidelines— not as stopgaps, but as core pillars of national health strategy. Promotive health also means tackling the social determinants of health—poverty, education, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, and environmental factors. We also need policies that tackle risk factors. Taxing unhealthy products like industrial trans fats, tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages can reduce the burden of NCDs while generating revenue for health programmes. These funds can be channelled into community-led initiatives that promote clean water, sanitation, and nutrition, addressing the root causes of disease. Second, we need to empower communities as active participants in their health. Health systems cannot succeed without the trust and participation of the people they serve. Too often, African health systems are designed around institutions and diseases rather than people. Some have jokingly referred to our ministries of health as "ministries of disease" — a reflection of how disconnected the system can feel from lived realities. Communities — including youth, women, and marginalised groups — must have a seat at the decision-making table. Health policies should be co-designed and governed by those they are meant to serve. It's time to update the current WHO framework and recognise 'people' as the seventh building block of effective health systems, alongside service delivery, health workforce, information systems, health financing, access to medicines and health technologies, as well as leadership governance. Empowering communities also requires fostering accountability. Civil society-led mechanisms can hold governments, private sector and other partners accountable for delivering on UHC commitments, ensuring that policies align with the principles of social justice. By giving communities a stake in their health systems, we can build trust, encourage early health-seeking behaviour, and reduce the reliance on curative care. Moreover, African governments must address inefficiencies and corruption, optimising the use of limited resources. By embracing digital technology and artificial intelligence, we can improve health data systems, enhance service delivery, and target interventions more effectively noting technology must be deployed at the community level, not just in hospitals, to enhance equitable access, particularly at the last mile. A call to action: Building the health systems of the futureThe curative consumption trap is a legacy of colonial health systems and misaligned global priorities. It is not inevitable. Africa has the opportunity to redefine its health agenda, leveraging its youthful population, rich cultural heritage, and growing technological innovation. But this requires bold leadership and collective action. African governments should prioritise health in national budgets, recognising that health is not a cost but an investment in human capital for socioeconomic development. Donors and global health partners must shift their focus from short-term, disease-specific interventions to long-term health system strengthening in line with the Lusaka Agenda, an effort for all to prioritise strengthening health systems, promoting sustainable health financing and enhancing equity through national level co-ordination. As we approach 2030, the deadline for achieving UHC, we must decide: Do we continue down the path of reactive, costly care with limited returns or do we embrace a model that produces health, dignity, and opportunity for all?The curative trap may be the legacy we inherited, but health production is the legacy we must build. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
PracticeLink Announces Inaugural First Practice Fund Scholarship Recipients, Celebrating Six Inspiring Medical Journeys
ST. LOUIS and HINTON, West Virginia, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PracticeLink, the nation's most trusted physician recruitment resource and home of the leading online physician job board, is proud to announce the recipients of its inaugural First Practice Fund, a biannual scholarship program designed to provide financial support to future healthcare leaders. Launched on National Doctors' Day, the First Practice Fund received an overwhelming response in its debut year, with hundreds of applicants sharing their powerful personal stories and professional aspirations. After careful evaluation, six extraordinary individuals have been selected to receive a $2,500 scholarship, one from each of the program's six focus categories, which included Internal Medicine, Hospital-based Medicine, Primary Care, Rural Medicine, Medical Students and Advanced Practice Providers. Spring 2025 First Practice Fund Recipients: Bryan Bui, DO Alejandro Nieto Dominguez, MD Sarah Eichinger, DO Margaret Giggey Dilpreet Singh, MD Jill Wenger, PA Among the recipients is Dr. Sarah Eichinger, who chose to divide her residency training between two hospitals to better serve underserved communities and Jill Wenger, PA, who left behind a successful career as a massage therapist to pursue her calling in neurodegenerative care, driven by a desire to better support patients living with these challenging conditions. Recipients also include Dr. Bryan Bui, whose commitment to diversity and equity has been a cornerstone of his medical training. 'The First-Practice Fund Scholarship speaks directly to my experiences and aspirations,' said Dr. Bui. 'Financial support has always been a limiting factor in my education. My father, an immigrant refugee from the Vietnam War, worked as a low-wage laborer and could offer little financial assistance. With this support, I will strive to serve those who need it most, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, has access to compassionate and equitable care.' About PracticeLinkEstablished in 1994, PracticeLink connects physicians and advanced practitioners in all specialties with opportunities at more than 8,000 health systems, hospitals, medical groups, and private practices. PracticeLink improves the physician recruitment process through people, technology, and education—helping get physicians to the communities where they are needed most. Follow PracticeLink on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. ContactCharles LowryDirector of GME in to access your portfolio
Forbes
14-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Time For Medicare Advantage Leaders—Including Me—To Eat Our Own Cooking
Dr. Oz just turned 65 and became a Medicare beneficiary. Everyone who operates a Medicare plan ... More should be required to be one as well. In every industry, the best leaders live the experience of the customer. Car executives drive their own vehicles. Airline leaders occasionally fly coach. Restauranteurs eat from their own kitchen. But in healthcare—and specifically in Medicare Advantage (MA), which now serves more than 30 million Americans—the leaders designing these plans rarely, if ever, use them themselves. This disconnect breeds an empathy gap between decision-makers and the seniors whose lives and well-being depend on these products. It's time to close that gap. As Dr. Mehmet Oz turns 65 and qualifies for Medicare, he is in a unique position to lead the charge in fixing this blind spot. But I'm not letting myself off the hook either. As a current CEO of company that sells Medicare Advantage plans, I am proposing a standard that would apply to me and every other leader in this space: if you run a Medicare Advantage plan—or sit on its executive team that runs these plans—you should be required to enroll in that plan. No carve-outs. No executive-only exemptions. No platinum side-door coverage. For those of us under 65, the proposal would also require a structural change: expanding Medicare eligibility to allow MA plan executives early, voluntary enrollment in their own plans. We should not be allowed to claim ignorance or detachment simply because of our age. I want to be clear: if such an early-enrollment window existed, I would enroll myself. I should have to live under the same benefit design, customer service, and network constraints as every other member. Leaders like me—and my peers across the industry—must eat our own cooking.A Modest But Necessary Reform The proposal is simple but powerful: 1. All managed care CEOs and executive teams must enroll in their own MA plan. 2. Congress and CMS should create a new category of Medicare eligibility that allows executives under 65 to voluntarily enroll in their own MA plans in a 'test user' capacity. This is the only way for leadership to truly understand the member experience. 3. No waivers, no special coverage allowances. The goal is to force leadership to live the true plan reality: the prior authorizations, the formularies, the network restrictions, the call centers, the appeals It Matters—for Me, and for the Industry I don't make this proposal lightly—because it would apply to me, too. If this became law or industry standard tomorrow, I would sign up. And I believe most honest leaders would welcome the clarity and accountability it would bring. Here's why it matters:- Operational Truth: You only truly understand the friction points—customer service delays, billing errors, prescription denials—if you live them yourself.- Accountability: Plan leaders would no longer tolerate broken systems they themselves have to endure.- Culture Change: A company where the C-suite shares the same risks and frustrations as members cannot help but become more consumer-focused.- Public Trust: Medicare Advantage is under increasing scrutiny from policymakers and the public. This move would send a clear, ethical signal: we stand behind what we sell.- Policy Innovation: The best ideas for simplifying prior authorization, improving networks, and reducing out-of-pocket costs would come not from distant consultants—but from firsthand More 'Not For Me' Products Too much of healthcare is designed by people who never have to use it. Too many decisions are made in corporate conference rooms far removed from the lived experience of real patients. If Medicare Advantage is the future of healthcare for seniors—as so many believe—its architects must also live that future. That includes Dr. Oz. That includes every MA CEO. And that includes me. It's time for all of us to eat our own cooking.
South China Morning Post
10-06-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Women's longevity, heart health, workplace wellness and more in focus at Hong Kong summit
A woman enters an emergency room with a sore arm and jaw pain. She fears she is having a heart attack – women are more likely to experience jaw pain as a warning sign. Her mother and grandmother both suffered one, so her concerns are valid. But instead of being tested for one, a doctor tells her she is too anxious and needs to calm down. Having symptoms dismissed, misdiagnosed or ignored, often with devastating consequences, is a scene played out all too often for women, says Dr Marjorie Jenkins, a US doctor specialising in sex- and gender-based medicine. A poster for Women's Health in Focus: A Global Summit. Photo: Amara Communications Taking place at the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre, the summit brings together more than 40 global leaders from healthcare, technology, investment and entrepreneurship. The summit aims to inform attendees about the latest medical breakthroughs in women's health, cutting-edge preventive healthcare and early diagnostics, and women-specific longevity solutions.
