BOSTON—“Inevitably, we complain about all the things that haven’t gone as well as we’d like but the real opportunity is the optimism of what we’ve been able to do,” said Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA, CMO and president of clinical services for HCA Healthcare, speaking at the AMIA’s iHealth 2015 Conference on the data dividend. 

According to criteria set by Medscape, the WebMD-owned resource for healthcare professionals, the worst state in which to practice medicine is New York.

Two years ago Massachusetts launched a pilot program to provide better care for its poorest and sickest while simultaneously curbing costs. So far the results on the latter aim have been dismal.

For the third fiscal quarter, Hologic's revenue increased 12.2 percent on a constant currency basis and its earnings per share increased 150 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. Hologic’s shares increased 11 percent in the hours following the July 29 announcement and were up 60 percent since last July.

The healthcare industry has transformed in the past few years, with more of an emphasis on value-based care and a shift toward a pay-for-performance environment. However, healthcare prices still vary and are difficult to find for consumers. Minnesota Public Radio recently addressed these healthcare pricing and transparency issues with Gerald Kominski, PhD, from UCLA.

The final rule for the inpatient prospective payment system for fiscal year 2016, which includes health IT requirements, was released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has analyzed the state’s emergency department visits, hospital admissions and hospital readmissions and found that over the course of a year nearly 1.3 million of those patient visits costing nearly $2 billion were potentially preventable.  

After months of on again/off again talks, Anthem has agreed to buy Cigna in a $48.4 billion deal.