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When Mass General Brigham announced the most layoffs in its history in February, the health system’s chief executive said the hundreds of job cuts would focus on managers and administrators, not employees who dealt directly with patients. But Dr. Anne Klibanski’s assurance to staff in a Feb. 10 email didn’t prevent layoffs of some employees who worked closely with patients, often under trying circumstances. (Saltzman and Bartlett, 4/2)

Nearly 10,000 people across St. Johns and Flagler counties will have reduced health care costs now that UF Health Flagler has reached a hospital-insurer agreement with Aetna Inc. (Brown, 4/2)

The Ensign Group said Wednesday it has expanded its footprint across California and Washington with acquisitions involving three skilled nursing facilities. The San Juan Capistrano, California-based company said in a news release it acquired the real estate and operations of Pacific Haven Subacute and Healthcare Center, a 99-bed skilled nursing facility in Garden Grove, California. Standard Bearer Healthcare REIT, The Ensign Group’s real estate unit, acquired the property, which will be operated by an Ensign-affiliated tenant, the release said. (Eastabrook, 4/2)

Hospitals’ increased reliance on agency nurses and overtime shifts for in-house nurses appears to have implications for patient safety, a study published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open suggests. Among a sample of 70 hospitals, researchers from George Washington University (GWU) and Premier Inc. found breakpoint thresholds at which increasing these nurse staffing approaches was associated with higher risk of pressure ulcers—an Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) patient safety indicator long tied to nursing care and staffing. (Muoio, 4/2)

A US healthcare executive has sued John Oliver for defamation following a Last Week Tonight episode on Medicaid, in which the British-American comedian quoted the doctor as saying it was okay for a patient with bowel issues to be “a little dirty for a couple of days”. Dr Brian Morley, the ex-medical director of AmeriHealth Caritas, argues that Oliver – an outspoken comic whose show has not only addressed muzzling lawsuits but been subject to them – took the quote out of context in an April 2024 episode on Medicaid. (Horton, 4/2)

Nonradiologists interpreted 43.6% of office-based imaging studies in 2022, according to a study published April 2 in the American Journal of Roentgenology. Researchers from the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute analyzed more than 1.6 million Medicare physician office-based imaging claims ordered by nonradiologists. They found that just 36.4% of the studies were interpreted by a radiologist. (Twenter, 4/2)

Americans eligible for lung cancer screening are about four times less likely to undergo screening for the disease than for breast cancer or colorectal cancer (CRC), an analysis of CDC survey data found. Population-weighted estimates showed that fewer than 18% of eligible patients actually got a low-dose CT scan for lung cancer screening, yet about 65% of those same patients received screenings for breast cancer or CRC, reported Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues. (Bassett, 4/2)