Morning Headlines 8/30/17

Advisory Board to sell healthcare, education units in $2.58 billion deal

The Advisory Board confirms rumors that it will sell its healthcare and education units to UnitedHealth Group. Its healthcare business was valued at $1.55 billion in the deal.

In Times of Crisis, We’re Better Together.

Direct-to-consumer telehealth vendor MDLive announces free medical consultations to residents of Texas and Louisiana who have been evacuated or otherwise affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Medical Journals Have a Fake News Problem

Bloomberg covers the FTC investigation of predatory pay-for-publication scientific journal Omics International, which claims to publish more than 50,000 articles annually in medicine, technology, and engineering, but which academics and federal investigators claim is undermining public trust in scientific inquiry by publishing questionable or sloppy research.

Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations Have Shown Potential for Reducing Spending and Improving Quality

An HHS OIG investigation finds that the Medicare Shared Savings Program has saved nearly $1 billion in the last three years, while improving quality on most of the individual quality measures reported.