A D.C. Superior Court judge has dismissed a $100 million lawsuit brought by Capital Behavioral Health (CBH) against the District of Columbia and the not-for-profit operator of United Medical Center, thereby clearing one of the major roadblocks toward either finding a new operating partner or replacing the aging institution.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) has asked the Federal Trade Commission to do more to clarify how it will approach enforcement of the Clayton Act on hospital and health system mergers when many of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act encourage healthcare consolidation.

All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., has reached an agreement with the government to settle allegations that it violated the Stark Laws by paying inflated salaries and bonuses to doctors who brought in more patients and revenues for Medicaid-covered services.

Beacon Health System and the South Bend Clinic physician group have suspended their merger plans because of a longer than expected Federal Trade Commission (FTC) review and uncertainty over whether the deal would be approved.

Three health projects were chosen as recipients of Twitter’s #DataGrants pilot program, which aims to give a handful of research institutions access to its public and historical data.

First quarter earnings for UnitedHealth Group Inc. show a 7.8 percent drop, reflecting in part the cuts to Medicare Advantage programs, new taxes and additional regulation created by the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the company said.

Noting that the government could save as much as $15 billion, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) has urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to equalize payment rates for low-risk surgeries performed in hospital outpatient settings with those done at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), but so far CMS is not enthusiastic about the idea.

Supply chain standards development organization GS1 Healthcare US has released guidance for using certain standards to implement Unique Device Identification requirements as promulgated by the FDA in September 2013.