Discussions to create the largest hospital system in the country by combining Ascension and Providence St. Joseph Health have ended, with the two companies deciding to focus on restructuring existing operations, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Mergers and acquisitions that have consolidated healthcare markets in California have raised prices for procedures and insurance premiums, especially in the northern part of the state, according to a report from the University of California, Berkeley’s Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare.

Two top executives from the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. emphasized that developing new leaders isn’t the responsibility of the human resources department, but a system-wide necessity in their presentation at the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress in Chicago.

An election year usually means little movement in Congress on major policies. That’s especially true for hot-button issues in healthcare, according to Tom Nickels, the American Hospital Association’s executive vice president of government relations, meaning major reforms may have to wait until after the midterm election—or perhaps after the next presidential race.

Reports from Monday, March 26, state former Cleveland Clinic CEO Tony Cosgrove is a leading figure to replace embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, should be he ousted in the near future.

In a survey conducted by Global Healthcare Exchange, some of the top providers for supply chain performance said making better use of data would be their No. 1 priority this year, either through expanded analytics or standardizing their data process across the organization.

For-profit hospital operator Tenet Healthcare has reached an agreement with its largest shareholder, Glenview Capital Management, to make several changes to its bylaws, ending a months-long battle over governance of the struggling company.

The hype around blockchain had reached new heights at HIMSS18 in Las Vegas, much of it centered on how an immutable, decentralized ledger of transactions and exchanges could be used to solve issues around interoperability and data sharing. Jason Goldwater, MA, MPA, senior director of the CedarBridge Group suggested it could streamline another headache for healthcare professionals: quality reporting.