News From Around the Web:
> Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Missouri has excluded the state's largest provider, BJC Healthcare, from the plan it will sell on the health insurance exchange. The decision was made based on BJC's high reimbursement rates, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Article
> Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield said it has reached a tentative agreement with insurance wholesaler Mutual Med Insurance Services to settle a lawsuit accusing the insurer of conspiring to create a monopoly in the local market, the Des Moines Register reported. Article
> Highmark has lost a major client--Westinghouse Electric Co.--after the company said it will use Aetna to provide all health coverage to its 7,500 employees, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Although Highmark said losing the Westinghouse account was a "name-recognizable loss," the insurer still has a "tremendous book of business with national accounts." Article
Health Provider News:
> Value-based healthcare may be difficult, but it could result in reduced costs and improved care and patient outcomes, according to the president and CEO of the Cleveland Clinic. Article
> Overconfidence among doctors could be a dangerous problem as doctors who provided wrong diagnoses were almost equally confident as those who were correct, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Article
Health IT News:
> Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City has hired Facebook's first data scientist to spearhead data-crunching techniques he once used to target online advertisements for predictive healthcare. Article
> Apple has asked some app developers to release or update their medical apps to include the source of medical information. Article
And Finally... You can't kill termites because of this bodily function. Article