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White House asks for $16B in cuts to HHS, more money for war
Cardiologist was fired for speaking out about racist texts, private jet misuse, lawsuit claims
Hospital sues cardiology practice for alleged breach of contract, ending years-long partnership
Lawsuit against Elevance Health alleging use of ‘ghost networks’ officially moving forward
Texas hospital hit by cyberattack that exposed data on 257K patients to hackers
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With pro bono legal help, hospital workers ‘send union bosses packing’

Employees at a 130-bed hospital whose home state lacks right-to-work protections are now free to work without having to join a powerful union that had sought to represent them. 

Primary Care
Patients feeling less sure about medical AI these days

Consumer affinity for AI in healthcare has plummeted over the past two years, a new survey report shows. 

Federal Trade Comission FTC Sign logo
FTC warns Tennessee of coming price hikes if it rushes to remove restrictions on hospital chain

The state legislature is mulling over the passage of two bills: one that would eliminate Ballad’s status as a protected monopoly, and another that would remove the Certificate of Need, a barrier that forces healthcare entities to submit expansion proposals to regulators for approval. The issue, the FTC says, is related to timing. 

AI-based mammography tool earns FDA nod

A women’s health technology company has received the FDA’s blessing to market deep learning-based software designed to help breast radiologists spot hard-to-find nascent cancers in 3D mammograms.

Laboratory
Laboratory AI achieves ‘excellent to outstanding’ COVID rule-out accuracy

Researchers have demonstrated a machine learning model that can rule out COVID-19 in many emergency patients—and all the algorithm needs is data from routine ER blood tests.

Surgery
AI personalizes hospital selection for elective surgery patients

Both outcomes and costs may vary widely from one patient to the next even in hospitals with consistently strong quality scores. Machine learning can help optimize the selection process for each patient as an individual.

Covid Vaccine
Who will get vaccinated first? Azar sees CDC advising but governors deciding

With emergency-use applications for two COVID vaccines in the FDA’s hands, the public square is buzzing over who should get inoculated first.

COVID Angel
Ventilators? PPE? Those COVID concerns are so five months ago

Early on in the COVID crisis, many hospital-based healthcare workers moved around to serve in COVID hotspots hurting for staff. They did so at scale and at will. Those were the good old days.

Downturn
COVID may cause hospitals’ bottom lines to bottom out—again

In some areas the business downturns may rival the low points of March and April, when the pandemic pummeled the healthcare economy.

Around the web

Radiology Business
Widow of man killed in New York MRI accident sues radiology providers

Keith McAllister, 61, died after he was allegedly summoned into the MRI suite to help his wife and then sucked into the scanner by a heavy neck chain.