News From Around the Web
> Six Mississippi hospitals owned by Community Health Systems are being sued by six different plaintiffs stemming from the massive CHS data breach reported last month. The plaintiffs say that the breach, in which information for 4.5 million patients nationwide was accessed by hackers, has caused them emotional distress and economic harm, according to the Clarion-Ledger. Article
> Framingham, Massachusetts-based ICD Health Insights has announced that it will provide health IT services strategy advice to "both buyers and suppliers of IT services." Forthcoming reports to be published by the advisory service in the next year will focus on fraud, waste and abuse services for health payers; clinical analytics services for providers; and business intelligence outsourcing and consulting services for payers. Announcement
Health Finance News
> A new report by the Brookings Institution questions previous studies that delve into the vast differences in healthcare spending in different regions of the country. The study questions the previous assumptions set by the ongoing Dartmouth Atlas study, which had concluded that variations in Medicare expenditures were due to differences in the way doctors practiced medicine based on large swathes of geography. Article
Health Insurance News
> Private exchanges are shaping up to be a major player in the healthcare industry--they now cover more than 1.5 million people. Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross is the latest entry into the market sector, announcing this week that it will establish a private exchange marketplace. Beginning Oct. 1 and taking effect on Jan. 1, 2015, the insurer will offer more than 100 employees medical, pharmacy, dental and vision coverage. Article
> Humana (NYSE:HUM) led all health insurers on online health insurance advertising spending, shelling out $4.2 million for paid search ads in the first six months of 2014. The data is based on a new report from consultants AdGooroo that examined Google AdWords activity for desktop and tablet searches of more than 6,000 health insurance-related keywords from January to June 2014. Article
And Finally... Batman's true identity revealed. Article