In its quarterly analysis of healthcare merger and acquisition activity, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, concludes that compared to the first quarter of last year, 2014 so far is fairly soft in announced deals for hospitals and physician practices even thought the incentives to merge are still strong.

If regulatory approval is given, AtlantiCare, southern New Jersey’s largest healthcare organization, will become a part of the Geisinger Health System sometime next year. The two organizations have signed a definitive agreement for AtlantiCare to become a member of the Geisinger Health System, and expect the regulatory approval phase to take 9 to 12 months to complete.

NEW YORK--MedCPU, Inc., a leader in enterprise clinical decision support solutions, announced today the close of a $9.3 Million Series B funding round that will provide the company with capital to maximize its growth opportunities in the expanding market for clinical decision support solutions for healthcare providers. Investors in the B round of financing include Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Easton Capital Investment Group and New Richmond Ventures.

Dick Taylor, M.D., is a software engineer, pediatrician and chief medical officer for the Frisco, Texas, healthcare information technology consulting firm MedSys Group. He is also an outspoken critic of ICD-10. Dr. Taylor shared his perspective on why ICD-10 implementation will likely not improve healthcare data as hoped and why the one-year implementation delay is good news.

It’s not quite “diversify or die,” but a new report from Moody’s Investors Service on the not-for-profit hospital sector does stress the need for hospitals to expand into outpatient services, along with making investments in efficiency and information technology.

Since Richard Gilfillan, M.D., left his post as director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center last June to become CEO of newly merged CHE Trinity Health, the healthcare systems has made several strategic moves to align itself with changes driven by healthcare reform. The latest came this week when it announced a deal with Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, to collaborate on clinical care and population health initiatives.

The annual Milliman Medical Index estimate of the projected total cost of healthcare for a hypothetical family of four is out and the good news is that the amount only increased 5.4 percent this year, the lowest rate of annual increase since Milliman first began tracking this cost in 2002. The bad news is that the cost is now up to $23,215.

The backlog of appeals of recovery audit contractor (RAC) decisions “has reached a crisis point” says the American Hospital Association (AHA) and three hospitals who have brought suit against outgoing U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius over the length of time it now takes to have an appeal of a reimbursement claim denial decided by an adiminstrative law judge.