Risk Management

The news comes as more health plans move from broad networks and straightforward reimbursement approaches to narrow networks and value-based payments.

When errors happen in the hospital, questions arise: Who's responsible? If treatment makes things worse - meaning patients need more care - who pays?

Colorado healthcare provider Centura Health said this week that it plans to open several hybrid centers for both urgent and emergency care in the coming months, touting it as a new model for the system hat could help rein in costs.

The study found that only 8 percent of healthcare institutions prohibit consumer messaging apps for employee communication -- perhaps unsurprising given employees in the healthcare industry use mobile messaging more frequently than voice calling for colleagues with whom they communicate most frequently.

Going forward, the exam every medical student and new physician must take to get a license will include questions about military medicine.

Because hospital-acquired infections are a common complication and extend inpatient stays, hospitals actually save money by building costly, single-patient rooms, according to a new study by Cornell University.

Over the next five years, U.S. health systems stand to lose a total of $305 billion from coordinated cyberattacks, according to Accenture. Even worse, their patients are at big financial risk themselves.

Advocate Health Care's South Suburban Hospital in Chicago will pay $10.4 million after a court ruled that negligence in administering blood pressure medication resulted in permanent disfigurement of a surgical patient.

Dedicated funding is needed for research, the report says, and hospitals and doctors need to develop better ways to identify, reduce and learn from "near misses."

Hospital operator Sutter Health last week said personal information on more than 2,500 patients was improperly emailed by a former employee in 2013, representing a possible breach of patient data.