In a case for payment reform, a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that postsurgical complications, though bad for patients, often build up the bottom lines of hospitals and health systems.

St. Louis-based Catholic health system SSM Health Care announced it has signed a letter of intent to acquire Dean Health Systems, a physician-owned, for-profit multispecialty group based in Madison, Wis.

Coordinated care delivery models have taken the healthcare industry by storm, with patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations becoming more popular with hospitals, health systems and large physician groups trying to provide high-quality care at a lower cost.

Patient satisfaction is at a two-decade high, according to a report from the American Consumer Satisfaction Index.  

A free guide on designing private performance feedback reports for physicians is available from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Including patient-specific circumstances in a care plan may improve patient outcomes, according to a study in Annals of Internal Medicine.

A report released by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services shows New Hampshire hospitals' rate of hospital-acquired infections to be 40 percent below the national average.

Fifty-one gastrointestinal patients at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia may have been exposed to bloodborne viruses due to incorrect infection control processes, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.

Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, Calif., is starting an osteopathic residency program geared toward family and internal medicine and orthopedics, according to a Ventura County Star report.

Physician Relations programs developed out of need. In 1986 I was working with a healthcare organization that had developed and was managing a free-standing, specialized treatment center. After operating eight months and exhausting all traditional methods of marketing to both…