1. Texas hospital pays $48M to settle false claims allegations Full story

2. Medicaid managed care organizations can join direct contracting, CMS says Full story

3. Congress agrees on $900B COVID-19 relief package, $1.4 trillion funding deal: 7 things to know Full story

4. 70% of digital transformation initiatives do not reach their goals. Click here to learn how to make sure your initiatives are successful.

5. Hospitals grow tense over who gets vaccinated, how it's decided Full story

6. Billionaire sells $109M of CHS stock Full story

7. Top 25 RCM outsourcing vendors in 2020, ranked by Black Book Full story

8. 3 Must Reads:

• Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare organizations must learn to quickly pivot to the new normal and bolster their preparedness efforts for the future. Click here to learn more.
• A paper-based informed consent process can put your system at legal and financial risk. Click here to learn how one health system made it mobile.
• Does your organization employ a whole-person approach to providing care for its employees with chronic conditions? Click here to learn how one health system achieved better chronic condition management results.

9. 'There are bound to be loopholes': Americans may face unexpected bills with COVID-19 vaccination Full story

10. CDC group recommends next priorities for COVID-19 vaccine: Ages 75+, front-line essential workers Full story

11. Georgia hospital reports 550 daily cyberattack attempts on its Epic MyChart system Full story

12. The 5 phases of a third-party data breach + prevention strategies for hospitals. Click here to read more.

13. AMA adds CPT codes for AstraZeneca vaccine Full story

14. California loses $200M in federal funding for requiring insurers to cover abortions Full story

15. Daily COVID-19 stats, state-by-state:

• Test positivity rates
• Hospitalizations
• Where the virus is spreading fastest, slowest
• Death rates

Becker's Learning Opportunities

1. What a decade of claims data says about the state of patient safety. Click here to read the full report.

2. The telehealth connection: How technology is revolutionizing remote patient care. Click here to read the report.

3. 11 must-reads for hospital leaders looking to get the most out of their IT investments in 2021. Click here to read more.