ALSO NOTED: Medco beats expectations; Parkland Memorial hires consultant; and much more...

> Pharmacy benefit manager Medco reported better-than-expected fourth quarter numbers, beating analyst expectations. Article

> New York Gov. George Pataki (R) remains hospitalized with an infection two weeks after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. Pataki is being treated at New York-Presbyterian. Article

> A physicians group wants Congress to provide tax breaks and other incentives to drug companies to encourage them to develop a new generation of antibiotics. Article

> Struggling healthcare IT outfit First Consulting Group turns in disappointing fourth quarter numbers, reflecting its recent problems. Release

> Emdeon released slightly better fourth quarter numbers, reporting revenues of $327.2 million yesterday. Release

> The newly-independent WebMD has done quite well on Wall Street since going public. Article

> The Raleigh Orthopedic Clinic (NC) will implement SRS Software's Freedom Chart Manager Software across its 28-provider practice. Release

> Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas has hired an outside consultant to handle its purchasing system after months of negative publicity. Article

> A lawsuit that charged the University of Chicago with overcrowding its neonatal intensive care unit has been thrown out by a federal court. Article 

> Technology is allowing some disabled people to work for the first time. Willow, a company that trains at-home workers to use technologies that allow them to work from home, is profiled in the New York Times. Article

> Compuware said it has acquired ProviderLink, a North Carolina-based company specializing web-based communications for healthcare providers. Terms were not disclosed. Release

> Gentiva Health Services says it has acquired the Atlanta-based Healthfield Group in a deal worth $454 million. Healthfield operates 154 home-care facilities across the Southeast. Article

> NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer says a Web site set up by his office that allows consumers to compare prices at local pharmacies allows them to save about $17 on each prescription. Article

> Chutes & Ladders: Gordian CEO Gregg Lehman has left the firm to join medical management company Inspiris. A subsidiary of BCBS of Tennessee, Gorian provides care management services. Article

> Mercury MD signs a fairly large mobile information system customer: Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center. Release

And Finally... In Washington, the powerful AARP will not fight against the White House plan to promote tax-free Health Savings Accounts. Article

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