Virginia Medical Law Report Just another www.valawyersweekly.com site

A merger of far southwest Virginia’s predominant health care systems would create a monopoly that would price patients out of affordable care, according to economists hired by the nation’s insurers. Details from The Roanoke Times.

Working with the Virginia Health Department, a nonprofit group has prepared the state’s first all-payer claims database for paid medical claims from 2011 to mid-2015. Details from Virginia Business.  

Hospital Corporation of America will pay nearly $16 million to settle allegations of Medicare violations. The Roanoke Times reports the claims involved Salem’s LewisGale Medical Center.

Even hospitals disagree about the push for changes to the state system for approving new medical resources. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports a work group is beginning to consider the issue.

Two federal agencies say Virginia’s certificate-of-public-need rules stifle competition. Details from The Washington Post.

A bankruptcy judge has given the green light to creditors who want to examine the role of Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. company executives in alleged illegal kickbacks. Details from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.  

The company that bought the struggling Health Diagnostics Inc. of Richmond tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch it is offering jobs to several hundred HDL employees, but not all of them.  

The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association has launched an online scorecard program for state hospitals, reports The Roanoke Times.  

A husband-and-wife team of Roanoke-area doctors go twice a year to provide medical services to an African village, reports The Roanoke Times.  

Dr. Thomas W. Eppes Jr. has been awarded the Lynchburg Academy of Medicine’s 2015 William H. Barney Distinguished Service Award, reports The News & Advance.