Faced with flat patient volume, higher expenses, and a shortfall from government payments, Boston-based Partners HealthCare System Inc. reported a 35% drop in its income for the second quarter. The income decline to $22.5 million for the three months ending March 31, compared with $34.5 million during the same period a year ago, comes as Boston-based Partners finds itself at the center of a growing debate over how to contain rising medical costs in Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reports.
