St. Louis-based Ascension, a 136-hospital system, had its issuer default rating and long-term revenue bond ratings affirmed at "AA+" due to its strong operational profile, key leverage metrics and robust balance sheet, according to a Sept. 20 Fitch Ratings report. 

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that Northwest Medical Center-Bentonville (Ark.) refused to allow an employee to perform his surgical technician job duties because of his sex.

Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital, an 80-bed facility in Dixon, Ill., has received approval to join Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare. 

Hospital revenue cycle management has been a testing ground for automation and artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Food is medicine programs are trending among U.S. hospitals, according to the American Hospital Association. 

Durham, N.C.-based Duke Health has entered into a two-year collaboration with SAS, a company specializing in data and AI, to create AI-powered tools.

Inova Health has launched a comprehensive campaign to raise $500 million for the Falls Church, Va.-based health system by Dec. 31, 2029.

Two hospitals in Istanbul are the newest members of the Mayo Clinic Care Network — a group of more than three dozen healthcare organizations with access to Mayo Clinic resources and expertise. 

Nisha Mills has been named COO of HCA Florida Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee, effective Nov. 1.

David Miller, MD, has been tapped as Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Michigan Medicine's next CEO. He will step into the role July 1.

From Walgreens agreeing to pay more than $100 million to settle false claims allegations, to a physician indicted in an alleged $32.7 million Medicare scheme, here are 10 healthcare billing fraud cases Becker's has reported since Sept. 10: 

Microsoft has identified a financially driven hacking group that is deploying INC ransomware to attack the U.S. healthcare sector.

Despite the unceasing number of cyberattacks hitting healthcare, the industry has a large cybersecurity skills gap, according to the nonprofit International Information System Security Certification Consortium.

AI-powered chatbots and avatars are set to lead IT innovation, emerging as the top trend expected to shape the landscape in 2025, according to a Sept. 17 survey from Info-Tech Research Group.

A liver transplant surgeon at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center frequently altered patients' records in a national database, potentially preventing them from receiving transplants, according to CMS documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle. 

Two New York health systems are outsourcing their Epic implementations to allow them to switch to an EHR that is sometimes out of reach for smaller organizations.

A leukemia patient undergoing care at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health has become one of the first in the world to receive a bone marrow transplant from a deceased human donor. 

The former senior vice president of healthcare delivery at Walmart has a new job.

Kalispell, Mont.-based Logan Health is moving to an Oracle Health EHR system, Daily Inter Lake reported Sept. 20. 

Christus Health Ark-La-Tex, part of Irving, Texas-based Christus Health, is assuming operations of Dallas-based Steward Health Care's Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana, Texas.