Getting better all the time: The free flow of data due to advances in health care IT and the greater adoption of electronic health records incentivizes providers to offer better care to patients, the chief medical officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana says. Dr. Vindell Washington, the former national coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead author of a new article published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The article discusses the impact of federal HITECH Act, which led to health care providers implementing electronic health records and digital sharing. Washington co-authored the article with three other former national coordinators. Read more.
All together now: Chicago-based Hub International Limited, a leading global insurance brokerage, has acquired the assets of Benefit Advisory Group, which has offices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Benefit Advisory Group specializes in employee benefits, including group and individual plans as well as voluntary benefits. Jay McGuire and Jeff Joffrion, managers of Benefit Advisory Group, will join HUB Gulf South. Read more.
Take two: Walgreens plans to revise its agreement to buy individual Rite Aid stores, a move that may be enough to resolve outstanding antitrust concerns and clinch U.S. approval for a deal the companies have been pursuing for years, Bloomberg reports. Walgreens is in the final stage of negotiations with the Federal Trade Commission about its plan to buy more than 2,000 Rite Aid stores and is set to propose a modified deal that could be announced as soon as today. The deal would be a hard-won victory for Walgreens and its CEO Stefano Pessina, who has doggedly pushed for a transaction that could clear regulatory approval since the fall of 2015. Read more.
