At first, the 2013 Boston Marathon was going more smoothly for hospitals in and around downtown Boston compared to the prior year’s event, when a heat wave meant more runners needed medical attention. David Reisman, MHA, senior administrative director of emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, admitted he had begun to think it would be an easy day.

The underlying causes haven’t changed behind the shortage of doctors in the United States: The population aged 65 and over is expected to grow by 50 percent by 2030, increasing demand for healthcare services. The physician population is also aging, with 13.5 percent of the active workforce already aged 65 and over and another 27.2 percent between the ages of 55 and 64.

The American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Society of Addition Medicine (ASAM) have a jointly proposed a new alternative payment model (APM) centered around patients with a physical dependence on opioids, with a one-time payment for initiating medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and monthly payments for continuing treatment.

In a survey of 232 chief nursing officers (CNOs) by AMN Healthcare, the vast majority said they’re experiencing at least a moderate shortage of nurses at their organizations—and 61 percent expected it would only get worse in the next five years.

Phoenix’s Banner Health has agreed to pay more than $18 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging it overcharged Medicare by admitting patients at hospitals for brief, inpatient services when they could’ve been treated in less expensive outpatient settings.

What will keep early career physicians from leaving a hospital or health system may differ between men and women, according to a survey from CompHealth. Regardless of gender, most physicians said they’re finding jobs the old-fashioned way: referrals and networking.

In the first public health advisory from his office in 13 years, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, has asked Americans—particularly those who have friends, family or are personally at risk of overdosing on opioids—to carry the overdose-reversing medication naloxone.

A bundled payment arrangement created in Texas by a non-profit Medicaid health maintenance organization (HMO) didn’t result in consistent savings for the two large physician groups participating, according to research displayed at the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress in Chicago.

While allegations of rape, sexual assault and misconduct have ended the careers of Hollywood power brokers and politicians, the healthcare industry appears to be “often more forgiving,” according to an Associated Press (AP) investigation of physicians accused of abuse.

The Hashmi Group’s unusual business model of turning away commercial insurance and managed care contractors while accepting only Medicare and Medicaid at rural hospitals has worked, according to its owners. But it has also attracted the attention of state inspectors thanks to very high out-of-network rates, expired licenses for staff and missing infection protocols.