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Fewer patients are returning to the hospital within 30 days of discharge, and it's not because hospitals are holding patients in observation units instead of admitting them as a means of avoiding penalties, according to new federal data. Readmission rates dropped significantly for more than 3,300 U.S. hospitals between 2007 and 2015. A small increase in the number of Medicare observation claims was also seen at that time. But researchers say the changes in observation stays can't account for the drops in readmission rates. (Rice, 2/24)

WellStar Health System announced Wednesday that it has received regulatory approval from the state attorney general to add West Georgia Health to its system. The two organizations plan to sign a definitive agreement next month, with West Georgia expected to join WellStar, based in Marietta, on April 1. (Miller, 2/24)

At the beginning of this, the final, season of “Downton Abbey,” The New York Times published a mock issue of a 1925 Downton Times, the front-page headline of which asked: “Will Downton Cottage Hospital Be Swept Up in Tide of Change?” One century and an ocean removed, the fate of rural hospitals remains precarious. Smaller, relatively remote hospitals continue to face numerous challenges: declining, aging populations; dwindling margins; difficulties recruiting providers. (Sisk, 2/24)

The Cleveland Clinic recorded $481 million in operating income in 2015, its best financial year ever despite reimbursement cuts related to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to a report released today. (Ross, 2/24)

It’s a story that doctors and executives at Children’s, the region’s dominant pediatric care center, tell again and again: They don’t have enough beds, surgeries are being delayed, patients are being turned away and sent to other hospitals. And it’s why executives say they need to complete a $1 billion expansion of their Longwood Medical Area campus, a project that would create an 11-story tower with more room for doctors and nurses to treat more patients. Yet the hospital’s message has been undercut recently by a group opposed to the proposal for reasons that have nothing to do with surgeries or beds. (Dayal McCluskey, 2/24)

University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center plans to embark on a roughly $100 million renovation of its operating rooms — its first major capital project since a scandal involving one of its former doctors plunged the hospital into financial distress. The Towson hospital is poised to post a profit in the fiscal year ending in June, and said it now can focus less on recovery and more on adding services and needed upgrades. (McDaniels, 2/23)

A Florida woman is suing Tampa General Hospital, saying hospital employees violated her privacy by unlawfully disclosing her HIV status to her family. The woman, who was not identified in the lawsuit, was admitted to the hospital as a maternal patient in December 2014. During her stay, a nurse mentioned she was HIV positive in front of her adult daughter, her attorneys said. (McGrory, 2/24)

A Miami plastic surgeon who promises clients “the flattest possible stomach” and “the most curvaceous backside” repeatedly botched liposuction and other medical procedures, causing such significant injuries to four patients that the Florida Department of Health issued an emergency restriction on the doctor’s license this month. Dr. Osakatukei “Osak” Omulepu presents an “immediate serious danger” to the public health if he were allowed to continue performing liposuction and fat transfers to the buttocks, a procedure commonly known as a “Brazilian butt lift,” according to the order signed by Florida Surgeon General John Armstrong on Feb. 16. (Chang, 2/24)