News From Around The Web
> Hospitals are saving thousands of dollars thanks to radio frequency identification tags that help staff track everything from high-value assets to medications, rental equipment, patients and hospital staff, according to Healthcare Finance News. Article
> Hospital admissions go up when the stock market falls, rising 0.26 percent after a one-day stock-market drop of 1.5 percent, according to a study presented Sunday at the American Economic Association's annual meeting in Philadelphia by finance professors from the University of California at San Diego, Bloomberg News reported. Article
> U.S. spending for hospital care grew 4.9 percent in 2012, 1.5 percentage points more than in 2011, part of a 3.7 percent overall increase in healthcare spending, according to a report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published Monday in Health Affairs. Abstract
> Despite having "excellent" bond ratings, many Catholic hospitals face financial challenges because of the costs of caring for large numbers of uninsured patients, Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, said in an interview with the Huffington Post. Article
Provider News
> Congress returned from its holiday break with plans to tackle new legislation to make HealthCare.gov more secure, healthcare reform and yet another deadline to keep the government running or face another government shutdown. Article
> A Los Angeles-area hospital agreed to pay $250,000 in civil penalties and legal fees after the city accused it of patient dumping, a trend that seems to be making a comeback among hospitals almost 10 years after the problem initially came to light, the Los Angeles Times reported. Article
And Finally.,,So much for sharing the road. Article