> Iowa Health System, parent company to Trinity Regional Health System, and Methodist Health Services Corp. on Monday finalized an agreement to affiliate. Iowa Health is now the fifth-largest nondenominational health system in the United States, reports The Quad-City Times. Article
> Patients hospitalized for an acute event such as a stroke or hip fracture are at risk for long-term institutionalization in a nursing home, and patients directly discharged to a skilled nursing facility are extremely at risk for needing nursing home care, according to a Gerontological Society of America press release. Meanwhile, in a separate study, nursing homes often decide to hospitalize ill residents or treat them on site based on their insurance status, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center news brief.
> Top-performing physicians can always learn to be better with proper coaching, according to Atul Gawande in The New Yorker. Column
> Four Albany, N.Y., hospitals--St. Peter's, St. Mary's, Albany Memorial, and Samaritan hospitals--have merged into the area's largest health system, now called St. Peter's Health Partners, reports the Associated Press. Article
> Hilton Head Hospital in South Carolina settled a federal lawsuit for allegedly violating a patient's privacy when an employee reportedly showed others photos of the patient's infected tattoo, reports The Island Packet. Article
And Finally... Hostile work environment, to say the least. Article