Humana added providers to its bundled payment models for spinal fusion surgeries and hip or knee joint replacements, the insurer said July 17.

St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill, Pa., plans to launch a $382,000 mobile medical simulation center next month, WFMZ-TV reports.

The House voted 419-6 to pass a bill repealing the ACA's "Cadillac tax" on lavish employer health plans.

The Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department on July 17 expanded what is considered preventive care under high-deductible health plans to include more services and treatments for people with chronic illnesses.

As the shift to value-based care continues, health systems are launching quality, cost-saving and patient satisfaction initiatives to minimize the effects of reimbursement changes. Many of these programs fall on the shoulders of already-strained pharmacy staff, according to Kelly Morrison, director of remote and retail pharmacy services for Cardinal Health.

"Although health systems have always focused on key areas — quality, cost savings, patient satisfaction — with the shift to value-based care, additional initiatives are now critical in order to minimize the impact of reimbursement changes," said Kelly Morrison, director of remote and retail pharmacy services for Cardinal Health.

Forty percent of primary clinics said they would not accept a new patient who takes daily doses of Percocet, a prescription opioid, for chronic pain from a past injury, according to a study published July 12 in JAMA Open Network.

Investigators found 41 patients developed septic arthritis, a rare joint infection, after receiving injections at a New Jersey outpatient facility, according to a study published July 17 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

One in 20 patients experiences preventable harm in healthcare, according to a meta-analysis published July 17 in BMJ.

Although the majority of healthcare providers worry about receiving negative online reviews from patients, more than 34 percent either choose not to respond to those reviews or have no process in place to do so, according to a new PatientPop report.

Venture funding in healthcare technology companies in the first six months of 2019 was higher than in the first half of any other year, for a total of $5.1 billion.

Though American healthcare providers have embraced the use of EHRs at record-high rates, they lag behind the rest of the world in adopting other digital health technologies such as telehealth and artificial intelligence.

Planned Parenthood removed its first physician leader in decades, Leana Wen, MD, after less than a year in the role, according to The New York Times.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' global budget payments were associated with lower spending and higher quality of care, according to a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. 

Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit selected Heath Roberts to serve as COO, effective July 22, according to the Oakland Press.

Kirkland, Wash.-based EvergreenHealth appointed Jeff Tomlin, MD, as its CEO.

A small fire forced Largo (Fla.) Medical Center to relocate nearly 20 patients July 18, reports ABC affiliate WFTS.

Health officials confirmed a respiratory outbreak at a second long-term care facility in Fairfax County, Va., reports ABC affiliate WJLA.

A woman has been charged with second-degree assault for allegedly punching a nurse at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Ala., according to The Montgomery Advertiser.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., has cut its workforce by 28 percent and axed several early-stage research and development programs to reduce annual expenses.