Oklahoma City-based OU Health is stopping its contributions to employee retirement plans and adjusting paid vacation allowances in a bid to cut costs, management told investors March 29.

A nurse and seven California Highway Patrol officers have been charged with involuntary manslaughter after the death of a man who was court ordered to have a blood draw in 2020, NBC News reported March 29.

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses' Clinical Scene Investigator Academy has provided more than a 600 percent return on investment; the 97 participating hospitals realized a fiscal savings of $84.2 million, Marian Altman, PhD, RN, clinical practice specialist and supervisor of the AACN's CSI Academy, told Becker's.

The Senate passed a resolution March 29 that would expedite the end of the COVID-19 national emergency from its planned May 11 deadline to immediately upon the signature of the president, and President Joe Biden has reportedly indicated he will sign it.  

Oregon lawmakers are considering new measures to regulate how hospitals discharge homeless patients after 34-year-old Melissa Blake died of hypothermia after she left Salem (Ore.) Health Hospital, local news outlet KATU reported March 29.

Longmont (Colo.) United Hospital, part of Centennial, Colo.-based Centura Health, illegally held back pay and benefit increases to unionized nurses amid their representation election appeal, a National Labor Relations Board judge found, according to Bloomberg Law and Law360.

Forbes named one health system IT chief to its CIO Next List for 2023.

Phoenix-based Banner Health's interim CFO, Anthony Frank, has left the system to pursue a new role in New York, Banner said in a March 29 filing.

Consumer advocates and policy experts told Congress more enforcement is needed to improve price transparency compliance. 

Seventy-two percent of physicians agree that misinformation has made it harder to treat COVID-19 patients and negatively affected patient outcomes, according to a new poll from Morning Consult.

Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network is integrating IllumiCare's Smart Ribbon cost-saving tool into its Epic EHR.

Ninety-four percent of physicians reported that prior authorization led to delays in patient care, and has caused increased administrative burden, a March 29 survey from the American Hospital Association found. 

The American Hospital Association says a recent analysis by health economists claiming that nonprofit health systems are seeking taxpayer subsidies for investment losses last year is "patently false."

Federally qualified health centers said they feel Epic Community Connect provides some of the best functionality compared to other EHR vendors, a March 24 KLAS Research report found.

Tallahassee (Fla.) Memorial HealthCare, which suffered an IT security incident in February, reported an operating loss of $9.6 million on revenue of $910.4 million in fiscal 2022, according to a March 29 filing.

At Tower Health's Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pa., college interns reach patients before they've even seen a provider, offering compassion and human connection as they screen for social determinants of health. 

Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare had its default rating and that of various bonds affirmed at "A+" as its market share remains strong and its operating margins show resilience even in the face of inflationary and other macro pressures, Fitch Ratings said.

Nearly 1 in 5 Massachusetts nurses aim to leave the field within the next two years, The Boston Globe reported March 29. More than half of them plan to retire. 

Minneapolis-based Allina Health has greatly expanded remote patient monitoring since launching hospital-at-home company Inbound Health in October.

Saginaw, Mich.-based Covenant HealthCare and two physicians have paid more than $69 million in three civil settlements to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act.