A study from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) found the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) has largely achieved its goals—and contrary to the findings of an earlier study, it didn’t increase mortality rates.

Wayne Brackin, the chief operating officer of Baptist Health South Florida, has abruptly left the system with no explanation for his departure.

In a significant shift for HHS’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), a new “Conscience and Religious Freedom Division” is being created dedicated to complaints from healthcare professionals who feel they were discriminated against due to refusing to perform certain services based on religious or moral objections.

Paternalistic practice within the patient-provider relationship could be explain low patient participation in electronic health (eHealth) services, such as patient-accessible electronic health records (EHRs). Findings were published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 15-12 to advance former Eli Lilly executive Alex Azar’s nomination as HHS Secretary to the full Senate, with one Democrat joining all Republicans in support.

Four months after resigning as HHS Secretary, Tom Price, MD, has a new gig: serving on the advisory board for Atlanta’s Jackson Healthcare.

Recently announced health system mergers like the Dignity Health-Catholic Health Initiatives and Ascension-Providence St. Joseph combinations aren’t about long-term growth, argues Permanente Medical Group CEO Robert Pearl, MD, but are rather signs of panic from systems which are banking on increased clout and higher prices to counteract financial struggles and waning influence.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, led a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee where he explored whether Medicaid expansion is at least partially to blame for the rise in opioid addiction and overdose deaths. Federal data, however, shows those problem began more than a decade earlier.