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Hospital bond issuances fell to their lowest level in more than a decade last year as not-for-profit providers scaled back their capital spending despite low interest rates and eager lenders. Instead of investing in traditional brick-and-mortar building projects, many health systems are focusing their attention on upgrading their information technology systems. These projects are not only less expensive, but they have a relatively short lifespan before providers must make the next upgrade. (Kutscher, 1/12)

Southern California-based Heritage Provider Network is forming a joint venture with the nation's second-largest nonprofit hospital system to better coordinate patient care across much of the country. The agreement announced Monday calls for Heritage and Trinity Health to build networks in different markets that focus on integrating the fragmented care many patients receive from multiple providers. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. (Terhune, 1/12)

Exclusivity deals for hepatitis C drugs by pharmacy benefit managers and a major health plan have raised concerns that the decision of which drug is best for a patient is being taken away from clinicians. Last week Anthem became the first payer to announce an exclusivity deal for a hepatitis C drug. As part of the pact, beneficiaries must try Gilead Sciences' Harvoni before trying any other treatment for hepatitis C genotype 1, which accounts for up to 75% of all U.S. cases. (Dickson, 1/12)

The American health care system may finally be catching up to the rest of the 21st-century economy, in which convenience is not only expected, but demanded -- and massive retailers are driving the change. Patients suffering everyday complaints like chest colds or ankle sprains have long faced the lamentable choice between waiting days to see their family doctors or enduring time-sucking, unpleasant and expensive visits to hospital emergency rooms, especially at night and on weekends when physicians typically aren't open for business. It's one of the most annoying aspects of the way medical care is provided in the United States. (Young, 1/12)

Extracting medical care from the health care system is all too often an expensive exercise in frustration. Dr. Eric Topol says your smartphone could make it cheaper, faster, better and safer. That's the gist of his new book, The Patient Will See You Now. Lots of people are bullish on the future of mobile health to transform health care, but Topol gets extra cred because of his major medical chops: Former head of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic and present director of the Scripps Translations Science Institute in La Jolla, Calif. (Shute, 1/13)