Top Stories

HealthLeaders Media editors research more than 100 reputable news outlets daily and share the latest healthcare headlines with our readers. You may submit inquiries or suggestions to our online editor.

October 31, 2012
Recovery Audit Reform Bill Calls for Financial Penalties
Health insurers ready post-election message: We’re not the bad guys!
Could Romney repeal the health law? It wouldn't be easy
Health insurers line up to compete in CA exchange
Mercy partners with Centerre Healthcare
Community health center opens in Hardin to 'fill a gap' in healthcare services
Dignity hospital deal collapses
Officials hope to find owner for closed hospital

October 30, 2012
Betting on Value-Based Care
West Penn Allegheny loses nearly $38M for year
Treating the high cost of healthcare
Baptist, Vanderbilt to share cancer resources
US employees to face healthcare sticker shock
Hutcheson Medical Center has system-wide profit in September
Nashville General Hospital supporters want inpatient care to continue
Business leaders predict healthcare cost hikes
Feds give $2.2M grant to surgeon whose warnings were dismissed by Parkland

October 29, 2012
Business Roundup: MO Hospitals Join Forces
Crucial test for an outpost of healthcare
US set to sponsor health insurance
Health insurance industry dislikes health law but finds its repeal unnerving
IA misses key federal healthcare deadline
3 Virtua executives among 10 highest-paid at area hospitals

October 26, 2012
Healthcare Reform Then, and Now
Safety Nets Face $53.3B in Uncompensated Care Costs
Cyber crooks target healthcare for financial data
McKesson plans to buy PSS World Medical for $1.62 billion
Aetna, facing healthcare overhaul, holds down costs
Health companies sitting on cash may mean bigger deals
Medicaid spending is slowing. Yes, really.
Judge to decide fate of West Penn investor talks
No criminal charges for Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital officials
CA regains control of inmate healthcare
Report: Medtronic helped draft, edit medical journal articles

October 25, 2012
Disruptive Remedies for the Physician Shortage
OIG work plan will examine physician practice billing
CBO director: Health law will hurt innovation, ration care
St. Anthony's Medical Center cuts 176 employees
Prison healthcare firm collapses, owing millions to Duke
States rein in health insurance expenses
St. Luke's enters alliance with three other hospital systems
Feds take critical look at meaningful use payments
Aurora-Anthem plan seeks exclusivity, promises savings
Audit alleges hospital worker stole $272,000

October 24, 2012
Healthgrades Revs its Hospital Scoring System
MGMA: Payment Uncertainty Dampens Physician Spending
Analyst lowers hospital estimates
Sherman Health Systems plans to be bought by Advocate
Lovelace health plan sues ABQ Health Partners
Hospitals charging fees for facility use
Opinion: A watershed moment for LSU

October 23, 2012
Settlement eases rules for some Medicare patients
Roundup: Healthcare M&A Deals, Partnerships
Health costs: How the US compares with other countries
Healthcare costs top US executives' concerns
Could one word 'make or break' the healthcare law?
Questions for Medicare in meningitis outbreak
Wrestling with options for ID under healthcare reform

October 22, 2012
Is Mercy Health abandoning Catholic mission in Hot Springs?
Sharing data a complicated step for healthcare
Cleveland Clinic patients frustrated by medical bills
N. Phila. hospital chair’s role in management raises eyebrows
Lawsuits by NC hospital chain drop sharply
LSU seeks advice in hospital system overhaul
More doctors leave practices for hospital
$2 million prize announced for blindness cure

October 19, 2012
SGR Repeal Plea Backed by 110 Physician Groups
Lapses at big drug factories add to shortages and danger
Long in the red, Jackson Health System finishes year in the black
PA health insurance exchange plan stalls
Opinion: Healthcare waste deconstructed—fraudsters and patients aren’t the problem
’Beyonce’ rooms put newborns at risk, nurses say

October 18, 2012
Sacramento is test market for healthcare contracting, payments
Interoperability initiative poised to transform healthcare
FL healthcare amendment has no legal teeth
Humana gains as health law bonuses spur improvement
Trinity Health intent to merge with Catholic Health East
CA hospital opens wallet to save execs’ pay
Houston hit hard in latest Medicare fraud bust
GA prompt-pay rule sparks legal fight

October 17, 2012
Labor Efficiency Emerges as Cost Containment Measure
Ascension negotiating to sell Kansas City hospitals to HCA
UnitedHealth raises forecast on contained medical costs
Why private Medicare plans don't cost less
Health shift will affect 860,000 CA children
Bill aims to block HMO cuts in NJ Medicaid reimbursements
Peeling away healthcare's sticker shock
Database features trends in healthcare workforce, education
Opinion: A possibly fatal mistake

October 16, 2012
Pharmacy Aligns With Hospitals to Reduce Readmissions
Safety-net hospitals brace for cut to federal subsidies
Privatized Medicare would raise premiums
South Shore Hospital gets 'negative' outlook amid financial strains
Sequoia Healthcare District gives CEO 14 percent raise
CA community hospital open for business, nurses protest
Fargo hospitals add emergency rooms to meet demand

October 15, 2012
Readmissions Trigger ID'd by Geriatric Experts
Capital Funding Deals Get Creative
Steroid maker sold other drugs in MN
Alabama hospitals struggle with Medicare reimbursement system
Hospital mergers, acquisitions a benefit to PA
Changes at LSU hospitals worry private providers
Hepatitis C patient upset with hospital over legal tactics
Memorial works on efficiency to improve care, avoid health-reform penalties

October 12, 2012
U.S. Trails in Adopting Value-based Healthcare
Romney: Healthcare called 'choice'
Vice presidential debate gets prickly on healthcare
To limit healthcare costs, Olive Garden parent tests part-time status
Wal-Mart to cover U.S. workers' heart and spine surgeries
Feds crack down on Central NY hospitals to stop revolving door of 'frequent flyers'
Future of healthcare hinges on election
Opinion: Expand Medicaid
Discussions ongoing with private healthcare firms after LSU cuts
U of L appears near to deal with healthcare partner

October 11, 2012
1 in 3 Medical Directors in Line for Bonus Pay
'No-Pay' Policy for HAIs Does Not Reduce Infections
Obama and Romney on the issues: Healthcare
Regulator has link to firm implicated in meningitis outbreak
$123M settlement reached in class-action pedophile pediatrician lawsuit
Judge freezes civil lawsuits against Exeter Hospital until 2013
Dueling HIEs thwart patient care
MN estimates HIE costs at $40M
Hospital staffing going under the knife
Why are MA hospitals doing fewer angioplasties on heart attack patients?
Time to get serious about hospital readmissions

October 10, 2012
ACEP: Frequent ED Users Need Coordinated Care
Comparative Effectiveness Research Not Aligned with Financial Incentives
Is emergency room care actually a great deal?
As healthcare companies expand, promised cost savings in doubt
Patient navigators find a role

October 9, 2012
Hospitals Overspending on Blood Transfusions
As US clamps down on data access, work on hospital safety may slow
With $4.9B deal, UnitedHealth to expand into Brazil
Highmark, WPAHS dealings complicated by bankruptcy scenario
When implanted medical devices go wrong, who pays?
Community health clinics to feel impact of hospital cutbacks
Parkland hospital adds Rick Perry aide as a new VP
McAllen doc alleges Houston hospital filed erroneous report

October 8, 2012
Physician Groups Warming Up to HIEs
OIG to Investigate Hospital Payments in 2013
NC Attorney General eyes 'artificial' hospital pricing
Florida's Medicaid program in limbo
Healthcare board's insurance perks 'excessive'
6 NY hospitals, in life-or-death fiscal straits, look at collaboration
Insurers balk at covering GYN treatment by OhioHealth
Highmark plan seen as riskier than ever
Abbott selling scans in fight vs. heart disease

October 5, 2012
Feds charge 91 in massive Medicare fraud scheme
Q&A: Kaiser Permanente CEO Halvorson on Retirement
Ohio Valley hospital system drops merger plans
Medicare errs in hospital readmission penalties
Hospitals need networks to prevent readmissions
UnitedHealth, Hartford hospital in contract battle
Louisiana public hospital cuts will affect uninsured patients

October 4, 2012
Opinion: The growing bipartisan support for health courts
How CBOs May Help Shrink Readmissions
Electronic medical billing may inflate payments
More MA doctors embracing new payment models
U.S. News launches health insurance rankings
TX urgent care clinics slam door on insurers
EHRs improve patient outcomes, aid targeted treatment
As hospitals face pressure, six in Brooklyn could close
VT hospital budgets not on sustainable path
GA hospitals respond to letter on provider tax

October 3, 2012
Recovery Auditor Improper Payments Ratchet Up
On property, UPMC spends big and is taxed little
We do know how to control health cost inflation
Many states not prepared for healthcare law
Wyoming Medical Center settles Medicare fraud suit for $2.7M
Anthem Blue Cross settles with CA over data breach
Chattanooga hospitals pouring millions into renovations, technology and expansions
Exeter Hospital wants freeze on legal discoveries in Hep C outbreak
Healthcare gain defies $11B Medicare threat: muni credit
L.A. billionaire teams with insurer on personalized medicine

October 2, 2012
Highmark files suit to bar West Penn from seeking another partner
Opinion: No matter who wins, there's still a healthcare cost crisis
HIEs Essential in Fee-for-Value Era
'Romneycare' didn't rein in costs
DRG 312 Reviews Put Providers 'In a Squeeze'
Hospital PAC spends nearly $1M on political ads
Hospital operator Tenet plans stock split, buyback
The fall and rise of the Vermont Cancer Center
EHR savings debate grows
AZ seeking help for Medicaid program

October 1, 2012
West Penn Allegheny, Highmark deal unraveled gradually
Hospitals probed on use of drug discounts
Medicare fines over hospitals' readmitted patients
Medicare Pay Cuts for Poor Readmission Scores Begin
States moving ahead on defining 'essential' health benefits
Experts disagree on 'best hospitals' rankings
AR’s bold effort to cut Medicaid costs, add transparency
Coventry Health investors sue over $5.6B Aetna buyout
USF Health leader shakes up medical status quo