Healthcare business news and information

The operating performance of not-for-profit hospitals and health systems rated by Fitch Ratings improved in 2012. But last year may be the “high water mark” for hospital finances as demand from patients grows increasingly weak and reimbursement cuts continue, a Fitch analyst warns.
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As political debate continues in nearly half of the states in the country over whether to expand their Medicaid programs, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday that her agency was open to discussing with state leaders their proposals on how to provide healthcare to their poorest residents.
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Provider groups say a CMS rule interpreting the healthcare reform law that gives consumers a grace period for unpaid health insurance premiums will put them at significant risk of delivering services for which they won't get paid.
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Surescripts, the for-profit electronic prescription network owned by pharmacy associations and pharmacy benefit management companies, is adding 19 state, regional and private health information exchanges to its portfolio of heath information exchange services.
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Frustrating an effort by nurses to hold off an incursion into their field of practice, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday that qualified public school staff members, not just school nurses, are allowed to inject diabetic students with insulin.
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A traveling hospital technician accused of infecting dozens of patients with hepatitis C through needles tainted with his own blood reached an agreement with prosecutors that would give him a sentence of as little as 30 years instead of the nearly 100 he could have faced if convicted in a trial.
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U.S. Renal Care has completed its acquisition of Ambulatory Services of America after first announcing in June the planned merger of the dialysis companies.
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The AMA has issued a strong criticism of the proposed 2014 Medicare physician-fee schedule, and also fired back against attacks on its Medicare physician payment advisory panel.
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The American Medical Association, the country's largest professional organization for physicians, is shutting down the news magazine it has published for 55 years.
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Two of President Barack Obama's top lieutenants offered the nation's state legislators reserved-but-clear denunciations of Republican opposition they say hurts the middle class.
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