�鶹Ů��

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology introduced a proposed rule on Wednesday to improve interoperability between payers, public health organizations and providers. ONC's proposed rule would establish voluntary certifications for health IT software tools used by public health organizations and payers. The proposed rule implements provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed into law in December 2016 by President Obama. (Turner, 7/10)

At his rehabilitation medicine practice in Illinois, Dr. Azlan Tariq typically spent seven hours a week fighting with insurance companies reluctant to pay for his patients’ treatments. He often lost. There was the 45-year-old man who spent five months in a wheelchair while his insurer denied appeal after appeal for a prosthetic leg. Or the stroke survivor who was rehospitalized following a fall after his insurer determined his rehab “could be done at home.” (Rosenbluth, 7/10)

Steward Health Care indefinitely delayed the sale proceedings for some of its hospitals as the system continues to push back the sale timeline for its various assets. Steward, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May, said in a Tuesday court filing it indefinitely postponed the planned July 11 sale hearing for its five hospitals in Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Bids for those facilities were due June 24. (Kacik, 7/10)

Sanford Health and Marshfield Clinic Health System said Wednesday they are exploring a combination, following failed efforts of their own to expand. Under a nonbinding memorandum of understanding, the combined system would be headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, home to Sanford, and led by Sanford President and CEO Bill Gassen, according to a Wednesday news release. (Kacik, 7/10)

Geisinger plans to embark next year on an $880 million expansion of its Danville, Pennsylvania, medical center, including the addition of an 11-story patient tower. The project has been formally approved by Geisinger parent company Risant Health, said Megan Brosious, chief administrative officer for Geisinger’s central region, on Tuesday. (DeSilva, 7/10)