Operations

The threat of ransomware attacks on health care facilities is greater than ever as cybercriminals see the opportunity to make money by encrypting health data in EHRs and demanding payment to unlock it.

Anthem and Aetna plan to pursue in court the Department of Justice's injunction to block their respective mergers with Cigna and Humana, according to statements from both insurers.

Sources close to the deals are saying the U.S. Department of Justice is about to block the proposed mergers between Anthem and Cigna, and Aetna and Humana. Federal regulators are expected to file a lawsuit as early as this week or next on the proposed deals.

Pathologists at a dozen hospitals in the state are part of a pilot project -- the first of its kind in the United States -- in which they are reporting cancer diagnoses in close to real-time to the California Cancer Registry. And they are using standardized electronic forms to make their reporting more consistent and accurate.

UnitedHealth Group revenues grew 28 percent, or $10.2 billion year-over-year to $46.5 billion, but that was countered by greater losses in the exchange market than projected, according to a second quarter earnings report released Tuesday.

According to the department, 108 million Americans have no dental insurance and access to care can be difficult even for those who are covered.

Covered California, the state's Obamacare health insurance exchange, said Tuesday that its premiums will balloon by a statewide average of 13.2 percent next year -- more than triple the roughly 4 percent increases in each of the previous two years.

Cerner President Zane Burke announced on Tuesday that the company has hired Jeff Hurst to be its President of Cerner RevWorks and Senior Vice President of Cerner Revenue Cycle Management.

Cigna has launched CareAllies Inc., a new service company to help providers make the move to value-based care by easing their administrative burden across payers and even supporting the launch and management of their own health plans.

Rates of potentially preventable readmissions declined across all conditions between 2010 and 2014, according to a MedPAC analysis of Medicare claims data.