It was a momentous year for healthcare as the industry grappled with another 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic along with financial disruptions, critical labor shortages and a reckoning with long-standing health disparities.
Taking a look back at the most-read stories of 2021, it's no surprise that the pandemic and vaccine mandates were top of mind for our readers. Five of Fierce Healthcare's top 10 stories this year centered on COVID-19 vaccines and various mandates at the employer, state and federal levels that healthcare workers get their shots.
Fierce Healthcare didn't just cover vaccine mandates in 2021. This year also saw hospitals and health systems locked in a labor crunch that has fueled labor disputes from New York to California. As healthcare workers took to the picket lines, Fierce Healthcare stayed on top of the latest developments, covering Kaiser Permanente's contract negotiations (ninth most read story) as well as stories on other labor disputes that cracked the top 20.
This past year also was marked by billion-dollar megadeals and record amounts of cash pouring into the healthcare market. The sixth most-read story this year was UnitedHealth's $13 billion bid for Change Healthcare.
The Fierce Healthcare editorial team worked hard throughout 2021 to bring you the biggest stories shaping the provider, payer, tech, digital health and retail healthcare markets. The stories featured here were written by Paige Minemyer, Robert King, Dave Muoio and myself. And this year we also welcomed new staff writers Anastassia Gliadkovskaya and Rebecca Torrence to our team.
In 2022, we look forward to bringing you more essential stories that keep you up to date and (fingers crossed) fewer headlines about COVID as the pandemic moves into our rearview mirror.
Here's a look at the stories Fierce Healthcare readers were drawn to most this year.
1. How many employees have hospitals lost to vaccine mandates? Here are the numbers so far
As healthcare organizations began announcing COVID-19 vaccine mandates for healthcare workers this past fall, Dave Muoio regularly updated this list of just how many employees hospitals and health systems lost to vaccine mandates.
Our coronavirus tracker proved to be a critical resource to keep readers updated on the latest pandemic news.
Sept. 9, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it would release an interim final rule in October requiring hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical centers and other facilities to vaccinate their staff as a condition for participating in Medicare and Medicaid. Despite pushback from employees and some labor groups, more health systems began taking a hard stance on COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment.
4. When will primary care docs get the COVID-19 vaccine? Many still in the dark
As front-line hospital workers across the country began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in December 2020, the discussion then turned to who would get access to the vaccine next. Many primary care doctors reported in January that they had no direct link to the vaccine rollout and were left in the dark about their turn in line.
5. Federal judge orders nationwide pause on CMS' COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers
More vaccine mandate news as CMS' nationwide COVID-19 vax requirement for healthcare workers goes to court. In a recent modest win for the Biden administration, a federal appeals court allowed a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers to stand in about half of states. Expect this issue to continue to play out into 2022.
6. UnitedHealth Group's Optum to buy Change Healthcare for $13B
In January, UnitedHealth Group's Optum unit announced plans to buy Change Healthcare for $7.84 billion in cash plus about $5 billion in debt. Optum said the deal will strengthen the insurer's portfolio of healthcare technology services and capabilities. The companies have pushed back the deadline for the deal to April 2022 as they await the completion of a Department of Justice investigation, which has been probing the deal on antitrust grounds.
7. Another 12 states take CMS to court over COVID-19 vaccine requirements for healthcare workers
Fierce Healthcare readers are definitely staying on top of the latest vaccine mandate developments as the Biden administration's requirement now faces multiple lawsuits. The rule formulated by CMS has been in legal limbo for weeks after some states successfully sought injunctions.
8. Humana rumored to be eyeing Centene takeover, again: report
In September, rumors swirled once again that Humana is interested in buying Medicaid managed-care company Centene. The speculation is based on chatter that a Humana private jet was spotted near Centene's headquarters in St. Louis, according to media reports. Two years ago, Humana shut down speculation that it intended to purchase its insurance competitor.
9. Kaiser Permanente union authorizes strike vote amid stalled contract negotiations
Healthcare workers have participated in labor strikes across the U.S., citing concerns about staffing, patient care, working conditions and employee retention. In September, leaders of a union representing 24,000 nurses and other healthcare professionals authorized a member vote to strike against health system giant Kaiser Permanente after negotiations stalled on a contract set to expire at the end of the month.
10. UnitedHealthcare cuts Envision from its provider network
UnitedHealthcare is continuing a trend of pressuring physician staffing firms by cutting Envision Healthcare from its network. Envision reported that its clinicians would no longer be in-network for UnitedHealth plans as of Jan. 1. Envision boasts 25,000 clinicians working in hospitals across 45 states and Washington, D.C.