News From Around the Web
> San Francisco-based Castlight Health has launched a new drug-shopping tool to help customers become more cost-conscious about their medicine purchases, GigaOM reports. Aiming to be a "stepping stone to broader healthcare consumerism," the tool allows users to search across different variables, including pharmacies, mail-order, generic/brand, quantity and other factors before making purchase decisions. Article
> Hanover, Md.-based Ciena Corp.--a global supplier of telecommunications networking equipment, software and services--announced that it has been selected by the Utah Education Network (UEN) to increase UEN's network bandwidth from 10G to 100G. Currently, UEN is an affiliate member of the U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network project, which delivers connectivity to more than 65,000 member organizations for the delivery of telemedicine, distance learning and other applications. Announcement
Provider News
> The Office of Special Counsel, citing a series of whistleblower complaints at a Veterans Affairs medical center in Jackson, Miss., warned the White House and Congress of "serious questions" about the hospital's ability to care for veterans. Article
> Hospitals are looking at providing homeless and uninsured patients services such as mobile medical homes to reduce their use of expensive emergency department care. In Delaware, for example, Wilmington's St. Francis Healthcare sends a medical van into underserved communities to offer free primary care services, reports the News Journal. Article
Health Finance News
> The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has relented on a policy that barred hospitals from getting paid on claims denied by auditors, such as Recovery Audit Contractors, if the rejection was based on where the care was rendered. CMS issued the interim rule about four months after the American Hospital Association and four hospital systems sued CMS over the issue. Article
And Finally... One man's yard sale trash is another man's millions. Article