Some New York City residents are paying other people to wait in long lines for them at COVID-19 testing sites amid an increase in testing demand ahead of the holidays, reports Business Insider.

The following hospital and health system CEO moves were reported on or after Nov. 18.

Nearly one in five Americans live in rural areas and depend on their local hospital for care. Over the past 10 years, 134 of those hospitals have closed.

Seven hospitals or health systems have announced, advanced or completed construction projects since Nov. 16:

In an effort to reduce healthcare costs, Connecticut will abandon its fee-for-service program in favor of a bundled payments model for its state employees. 

A merger between Cigna and Anthem failed because Cigna's CEO and board intentionally sabotaged the proposed $48 billion deal, according to an unsealed lawsuit filed by Cigna investors.

Rexford Titus, the former CEO of Waukesha, Wis.-based ProHealth Care, died from complications of COVID-19 on Nov. 16. He was 74.

A physician-led ACO that collaborates with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas recorded lower inpatient admissions in 2019, among other improvements in outcomes. 

San Antonio-based University Hospital performed the city's first double lung transplant for a COVID-19 patient at the end of October, reports the San Antonio Express-News.

The initial COVID-19 surge this spring overwhelmed hospitals in New York City, forcing them to implement crisis standards of care. The experience highlighted many opportunities to improve future planning and implementation of these standards, according to a report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore. 

Mounting evidence suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 virus underwent a mutation early in the pandemic that allowed the virus to spread more easily between people, according to The New York Times.

Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty Nov. 24 to three criminal charges related to the marketing and sale of OxyContin, according to The Wall Street Journal. The guilty plea formally admits the company's role in the nation's opioid epidemic.

Middletown, Ohio-based Atrium Medical Center pulls administrative staff away from their usual tasks for a few hours a week as part of a "Helping Hand" measure, allowing nurses to spend more time at patients' bedsides amid the pandemic, reports local FOX affiliate WXIX. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a whirlwind of unknowns, stirring up conversations about how the virus may affect the heart. In a recent edition of the University of California San Francisco's magazine, Nisha Parikh, MD, cardiologist and associate professor of medicine, recapped what researchers and physicians now know about what the novel coronavirus may be doing to the heart. 

UnitedHealth named Matthew Friedrich its executive vice president and chief legal officer, the healthcare company said Nov. 20.

Below are 10 hospitals and health systems that posted job listings seeking COOs during the past few weeks.

New Jersey legislators proposed a bill Nov. 19 that aims to reorganize the state's largest commercial insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, according to local radio station New Jersey 101.5. 

Three pharma industry groups are suing HHS and the FDA to block a rule that would allow the importation of certain prescription drugs from Canada.

Pennsylvania lawmakers on Nov. 20 passed a pandemic liability shield for nursing homes and other healthcare providers, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Drugmakers and public health officials should educate the public about the brief but potentially unpleasant immune responses that COVID-19 vaccines can cause, physicians told CDC advisors during a Nov. 23 virtual meeting.