Optum, the consulting and services arm of health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, has continued a series of major acquisitions with the announcement it will buy DaVita Medical Group, a division of kidney dialysis firm DaVita, for $4.9 billion.

As cyberattack become increasingly common incidents, healthcare professionals must push security to the forefront. In a presentation given at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, Jim Whitfill, CMO of innovation Health Partners and president of Lumetis, described the current cybersecurity environment and detailed how professionals can take steps toward improving privacy.

Decision Resources Group (DRG) have developed an interactive tool capable of testing the potential of vaccines in any global market and producing results in less than two minutes.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, based her vote in favor of the Senate Republican tax cut plan on the promise Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, would back two bills to help the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, however, isn’t making the same commitment, according to The Hill.

If the merger between CVS Health and Aetna is completed, other healthcare companies, especially pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), will see some negative effects such as pressuring the utilization and pricing of branded drugs, according to Moody’s Investor Service.

A study of more than 90,000 hip operations at hospitals in Ontario found when surgeons were overseeing two operations at once, patients were nearly twice as likely to experience serious complications, with a longer overlap increasing the risk.

The largest health insurers—UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Anthem, Cigna and Humana—are getting nearly 60 percent of their total combined revenue from Medicare and Medicaid plans, according to a Health Affairs study, with that money more than doubling since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed.

The mortality rate for patients hospitalized for opioid-related conditions more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2014, with increases in admissions related to opioids among whites, people aged 50 to 64, Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities and people from lower-income areas.