ASC News

Here are five updates on Cigna Healthcare in September, as reported by Becker's:

U.S. Healthworks, a chain of occupational and urgent care clinics, has agreed to pay $7.7 million to settle allegations it knowingly withheld millions of dollars in unclaimed property from the state of California.

According to the Physician Foundation's annual "Survey of America's Current and Future Physicians," 6 in 10 physicians and residents reported experiencing burnout, and 50% of respondents said healthcare consolidation is having a negative impact on their job satisfaction. 

A private ASC in Nacogdoches, Texas, closed its doors permanently  in May, citing financial pressures, according to a May 10 report from The Daily Sentinel.

The clinic and home of a physician in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has been raided for an alleged pill mill, WDIV reported Sept. 24. 

A former billing manager for AmSurg-affiliated Affiliated Endoscopy Services of Clifton (N.J.) has filed a lawsuit against the ASC alleging employment discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, according to court documents obtained…

A former office manager and bookkeeper for a practice in Pawtucket, R.I., has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for misappropriating nearly $570,000 in medical funds and $11,000 in state benefits. 

ASCs leaders and physicians are at a pressure point between rising inflation, increased demand for healthcare services and declining reimbursements from Medicare and private payers. 

Nearly 99% of Medicare Advantage patients are required to obtain prior authorization for certain services. 

A jury has determined that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana shortchanged a New Orleans-based surgical center by more than $400 million, according to a Sept. 24 report from NOLA.com.