News From Around the Web
> Care in the last five years of life is more expensive for patients with dementia than those who die of heart disease or cancer, according to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Study abstract
> Four of the eight people who received open heart surgery at a Pennsylvania hospital have died, and officials are trying to determine whether the primary cause of death was from an infection contracted from a medical device, The New York Times reports. Article
> A South Dakota circuit court judge ruled that health providers can be sued for failing to properly credential physicians and that members of the credentialing committee can also be held liable, according to The Washington Times. Article
Health Finance News
> A routine eye exam of a teen patient at Boston Children's Hospital led to a $1,550 bill--a state of affairs that suggests Massachusetts is still having problems curbing runaway healthcare costs. Article
> Maryland has always been an outlier in how it pays hospitals. But state officials recently tried a new approach toward cost-containment, and it appears to be working, according to NPR. Article
And Finally… Stopping them in their tracks. Article