Medicare will still process claims; HCA purchases three Florida hospitals;

News From Around the Web

> Medicare administrative contractors will continue to process and pay claims while the government is shut down, AHA News Now reports. Article

> Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corporation of America has purchased three IASIS Healthcare hospitals in Florida, IASIS announced yesterday. Announcement (.pdf)

> Physicians and advocates in New York City are raising objections to sending disruptive students to hospital emergency rooms on the grounds that they are "emotionally disturbed persons," WNYC reports. Article

Practice Management News

> Across the country, some physicians are paid roughly double what other doctors are paid for the same services, but there's no real reason to explain the variations, according to a new study published in Health Affairs. Article

> Now that open enrollment for health exchanges brought by the Affordable Care Act is finally here, confusion among patients still runs high. And their most likely place to field questions is none other than their doctor's office, according to Abraham C. Whaley, co-founder and vice president of consultancy Manage My Practice. Article

And Finally... Waste not, want not. Article