News From Around the Web
> St. Louis-based Ascension Health will sell two of its hospitals, one in Idaho and one in Washington state, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. Article
> Healthcare consumer advocacy group Community Catalyst urged the Internal Revenue Service in a letter to clarify regulations to consider improved housing a hospital community benefit. Letter (.pdf)
> Healthcare providers should consider placebos as valuable patient care components, argued an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine. Opinion piece
Health Finance News
> With unions weakened and management emboldened by shifts in worker demographics in recent decades, organized labor is recalculating how to obtain more leverage in negotiations moving forward, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Article
> The pharmaceutical and medical device industry contributed a shade under $6.5 billion to the nation's teaching hospitals and physicians last year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Article
And Finally… Pageant wars. Article