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TRILLIANT HEALTH RESEARCH
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Increased Outpatient Coding Intensity Following Hospital Adoption of AI-Enabled Scribing Warrants Examination but Likely Reflects Enhanced Rules-Based Documentation
Read the StudyMarch 12, 2026
Increased Outpatient Coding Intensity Following Hospital Adoption of AI-Enabled Scribing Warrants Examination but Likely Reflects Enhanced Rules-Based Documentation
Adoption of AI-enabled scribing in hospitals increased outpatient coding intensity, likely due to more accurate documentation, raising questions about impact on billing, reimbursement and fraud risks.
Katie Patton
StudiesMarch 05, 2026
As RPM Growth Slows, Medicare Expands Coverage While Commercial Insurers Question Effectiveness
RPM growth has slowed, with Medicare expanding coverage, but commercial insurers restricting requirements due to mixed evidence of effectiveness, concentrating use in cardiovascular and metabolic cases.
Katie Patton • Austin Miller • Allison Oakes, Ph.D.
FundamentalsMarch 03, 2026
Examining CMS’s National Health Expenditure Estimates for 2024
U.S. healthcare spending keeps rising, driven by higher prices, shifting care to outpatient settings and greater treatment intensity, even as overall care utilization remains flat or declines.
Clara Petrucelli • Katie Patton • Allison Oakes, Ph.D.
StudiesFebruary 26, 2026
Cancer Survival Up 140% Since the Mid-1970s, but Mortality Improvements Are Uneven Across Racial Groups
ACS projects 2.1M new cancer cases and 626,140 deaths in the U.S. for 2026. Five-year survival has reached 70%, but disparities persist by race, region and socioeconomic status.
Clara Petrucelli • Katie Patton • Allison Oakes, Ph.D.
StudiesFebruary 19, 2026
Intra-Market Rate Variation Can Lead to Spending Differences that Exceed $102M for a Single Orthopedic Procedure in Dallas-Fort Worth
Health plan price transparency data reveals notable price variation for the same procedures, enabling employers to cut costs by steering employees to high-value providers and optimizing network choices.
Katie Patton • Jim Browne • Chris Rash • David Taylor • Allison Oakes, Ph.D.
StudiesFebruary 12, 2026
In the Same Market, Medicare Episodes of Care Can Range Up to 80x
Surgical volume for mandatory TEAM surgical procedures varies widely (one to 3,300 eligible Medicare procedures per hospital), while 30-day Medicare episode costs can differ up to 80x within the same market (e.g., $1,829 to $146,069 for a spinal fusion). These cost disparities exist despite minimal variation in quality. Even hospitals with strong occupancy and margins can exhibit inefficient downstream care. Consequently, TEAM reimbursement outcomes will be driven largely by cost management rather than quality differentiation.
Katie Patton • Austin Miller • David Taylor • Allison Oakes, Ph.D.
StrategyFebruary 10, 2026
AI in Healthcare: Current Uses, Shared Challenges and Future Stakeholder Opportunities
As excitement around the healthcare applications of AI grows, understanding how health economy stakeholders are actually using AI, their challenges and future opportunities is crucial to navigate the rapidly shifting health economy.
Sarah Millender • Clara Petrucelli • Katie Patton • Allison Oakes, Ph.D. • Sanjula Jain, Ph.D.
StudiesFebruary 05, 2026
While Quality Is Relatively Comparable Across TEAM Hospitals, Financial Health Is Highly Variable
An analysis of 724 hospitals in CMS’s mandatory TEAM model, examining operating margins, readmissions, payer mix and more.
Katie Patton • Allison Oakes, Ph.D. • David Taylor
StudiesJanuary 29, 2026
More Americans Are Dying at Home but Hospital-Based Deaths Remain Most Common
Place of death in the U.S. is shifting: hospitals remain most common (34.6% in 2024), while deaths at home rose to 34.3% from 2018–2024.
Katie Patton • Allison Oakes, Ph.D.
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