A physician who ran an addiction treatment practice in Merrillville, Ind., has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after pleading guilty to healthcare fraud. 

Cigna and HCA Houston Healthcare have extended their current contract until Oct. 8 amid ongoing negotiations, the Houston Business Journal reported Oct. 3. 

The number of physicians running independent practices is steadily declining amid a growing gap between reimbursements and the escalating costs of maintaining these practices. 

Two Kansas men have pleaded guilty in a scheme to defraud Medicare. 

Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took the stage Oct. 1 for the only vice presidential debate at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. 

About 36% of physician assistants report feeling burnt out in 2024, down 1% from the year prior, according to Medscape's "Finding Renewed Resilience: Physician Assistant Burnout & Depression Report 2024," published Oct. 4. 

The annual cost of retirement can vary by as much as $67,981 annually, depending on what state you live in, according to an Oct. 2 report from CNBC, based on a recent GOBankingRates analysis of all 50 U.S. states.

More women are entering higher-paying physician specialties, particularly in surgery, according to a study published in JAMA. 

On Oct. 1, UnitedHealthcare's national prior authorization gold-card program went into effect. The payer announced the program in August and rolled out its list of eligible procedures on Sept. 1, which included several ASC-related codes. 

The five best small cities for education and health are in Massachusetts, according to a new ranking from Wallethub.

Nearly 50% of registered nurses take on extra work to supplement their yearly income, according to Medscape's 2024 "Gains Made, but a Ways to Go: "Medscape RN/LPN Compensation Report," published Oct. 2. 

Registered nurses earn an average annual total compensation of $95,000 in 2024, up nearly 7% from the year prior, according to Medscape's 2024 study, "Gains Made, but a Ways to Go: Medscape RN/LPN Compensation Report," published Oct. 2. 

As hospitals continue to shutter services, ASCs could see an influx in patients who have lost access to services through providers at hospitals or HOPDs. 

Brookline, Mass.-based First Psychiatric Planners, operating as Bournewood Health Systems and Bournewood Hospital, has agreed to pay between $5.5 million and $6.5 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by way of patient kickbacks.

Surgery Partners and Hyde Park Capital partnered to form Midwest Orthopedic and Musculoskeletal Alliance.

A fraud and kickback case against former Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare executives John Holland and William Moore, and co-defendant Edmundo Cota will proceed to trial after federal prosecutors won the right to use statements from 10 alleged co-conspirators, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sept. 30. 

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare and Cigna Healthcare were in negotiations over a new contract well into the final day of their current agreement on Sept. 30, the Houston Business Journal reported. 

ASC chain Inova Surgery Center, an affiliate of Falls Church, Va.-based Inova Health, has been charged with violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act for firing an employee because of disability and age. 

According to predictions from business law firm Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, recent certificate-of-need reform will likely lead to ASC expansions in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, according to a Sept. 27 press release from JDSupra.

New York has the highest number of physician assistants per capita out of any state at 85.73 PAs for every 100,000 residents.