Trending News Today: Healthcare Merger Talk Continues

Despite the US Department of Justice moving to block the mergers of the largest insurers, this action may not stop other mergers from happening. Physicians and hospitals are expected to undergo small mergers to become larger companies, The New York Times reported. These companies can serve larger populations and can have more negotiating power when it comes to pricing.

California has started to modify the process they use to report cancer diagnoses in the California Cancer Registry. They are now using standardized electronic forms to create a more streamlined and accurate approach, according to Kaiser Health News. They are making these changes in hopes of improving treatments and patient outcomes.

A recent study suggested that the act of disclosing information about adverse events can cause anxiety for surgeons. They found that surgeons are more likely to have anxiety if a serious adverse event happened, or they had difficulty discussing the event. Surgeons also were afraid of a poor reaction to the discussion, an impact on their reputation, bad publicity, or a lawsuit, according to Kaiser Health News.