The number of participants in the Next Generation ACO model has shrunk to 51 after seven accountable care organizations (ACOs) announced they’ll drop out of the program in the largest departure of providers since the model was introduced.

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna, D-California, recently introduced new legislation dubbed the Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act, which aims to reduce the risk of workplace violence in healthcare facilities utilizing comprehensive employer-mandated workplace violence plans.

For-profit hospital giant HCA has entered into discussions to acquire Mission Health, a nonprofit six-hospital system based out of Asheville, North Carolina, in a deal Mission admitted may result in some jobs being eliminated.

In a proposed rule, CMS would loosen requirements for states with Medicaid managed care programs on analyzing and monitoring access to care, a move the agency said would provide additional relief on “burdensome” regulations finalized by the prior administration.

The promise of precision medicine is bringing together patient data and accounting for factors like genetic variability, environment and lifestyle to tailor treatment to an individual. Fulfilling that potential, according to Acxiom and LiveRamp’s global chief data ethics officer Sheila Colclasure, MA, requires using the available data ethically and gaining the trust of patients.

Downers Grove, Illinois-based Advocate Health Care and Milwaukee’s Aurora Health Care have gotten the final approval needed to close their merger, which will create the 10th largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the country.

Robert Redfield, MD, has been named the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But before his appointment, a top Senate Democrat said complaints about his past work as an HIV/AIDS researcher would make him an unsuitable public health leader.

The global budgeting, all-payer program adopted for most of Maryland’s hospitals has succeeded in keeping the growth in hospital revenue and Medicare expenditures below the rest of the nation through its first three years, while also reducing readmissions and complications.

Of the nine categories included in the 2019 Best Medical Schools rankings released by U.S. News and World Report, Harvard University either tied or placed alone at No. 1 in eight of them—the sole exception being the primary care category.

Since 2007, the number of licensed nurse practitioners (NPs) in the U.S. has grown from 120,000 to 248,000, with most NPs working full-time and in primary care settings, according to data released by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).