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Hospitals and doctors increasingly are subscribing to the services to simplify appointment scheduling for patients who dislike waiting on hold and are comfortable doing everything from shopping to banking online. With most of the services, booking is as simple as going to a website, entering a zip code and the kind of care needed, and checking available times. (1/15)

Last month, ProPublica and NPR detailed how one nonprofit hospital in Missouri sued thousands of lower income workers who couldn't pay their bills, then seized their wages, all while enjoying a big break on its taxes. Since then, the IRS has released long-awaited rules designed to address such aggressive debt collection against the poor. Largely because these new rules fill a void — there were hardly any rules at all — patient advocates agree they are a major step forward. (Kiel, 1/15)

A federal panel's recommendation that reimbursement for rehabilitation be the same for inpatient rehabilitation facilities and skilled-nursing facilities is getting immediate pushback from industry stakeholders who say patient care will suffer.The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended that Congress direct the HHS secretary to eliminate the differences in payments between IRFs and SNFs for selected conditions. (Dickson, 1/15)