News From Around the Web:
> Highmark is offering to help tens of thousands of new members transition to its Community Blue plan. Although the new members will lose access to UPMC doctors and hospitals, Highmark has decided to grant them extra time to smooth the transition of care with those providers, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Article
> Virginia state senators have approved creating a new private health insurance exchange operating separately from the federal marketplace already in place, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Article
> An Oregon lawmaker is calling for the Government Accountability Office to audit the state's exchange, Cover Oregon, to determine what went wrong when the marketplace launched, the Statesman Journal reported. Article
Health Provider News:
> Consumers who are newly insured through Medicaid still prefer to seek treatment from an emergency room instead of a doctor. Article
> Hospitals are emulating airport and shopping mall designs to help make it easier for patients and visitors to navigate their facilities. Article
Health IT News:
> The World Health Organization has postponed rollout of ICD-11 by two years, from 2015 to 2017. Article
> The Veterans Health Administration and Kaiser Permanente are teaming up in an effort to improve care for their own patients as well as all healthcare consumers. Article
And Finally... There will be no feeding bears. Article