In response to rising national health care costs, the Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute have launched a new center to increase efficacy and reduce costs at four major health care providers across Indiana.

The compensation of CEOs at nonprofit U.S. hospitals may not be based on patient outcomes, the provision of care or benefit to the community. Instead, a JAMA Internal Medicine study published online Oct. 14 found that compensation may be more closely linked to technology and patient satisfaction.

The Washington Post reviewed contingency plans filed by federal agencies that detailed employee furloughs and what aspects of their programs would remain functioning during the government shutdown. The list is organized by agency and will be updated as information becomes available.

Although the number of women entering the physician workforce has increased over the past two decades, their earnings still lag behind those of their male colleagues. In a research letter published online in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers reported that according to the latest salary data, the earnings gap between male and female physicians was $56,019.

The median household income in the U.S. dropped by about $4,000 between 2007 and 2013. Is cardiology immune?

Effective October 1, Cook Medical’s Zilver® PTX® Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent qualifies for new-technology add-on payments under Medicare’s hospital inpatient prospective payment system.

Charges for intravenous saline given to patients in one food poisoning outbreak varied from single to triple digits, and were even higher when hospitals added in administration costs. The New York Times attempted to track how an item that Medicare prices at $1.07 a liter could become so inflated.

The trend to consolidate hospitals is likely to accelerate due to the Affordable Care Act and other forces, the New York Times reported. By merging, hospitals and chains hope to reduce costs.