The House of Representatives and the Senate are on holding district / State work periods this week.

CNBC reports that “Starting in 2019, LabCorp will no longer be the exclusive lab provider for UnitedHealth, but it will gain access to Aetna. Meanwhile, Quest will lose its exclusivity with Aetna, but will be among UnitedHealth’s preferred providers.”  Over the weekend, the FEHBlog read Bad Blood, Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou’s book about the rise and fall of the lab services provider Theranos. Fascinating.

Healthcare Dive reports about a successful Colorado experiment involving integrating behavioral health with primary care. Practically speaking that integration happens routinely so it makes sense to prepare for it.

Health Payer Intelligence offers ways that healthcare payers can get healthcare providers to use their electronic payment systems.

Electronic payment systems allow payers and providers to collaboratively improve the claims management process and enhance payment accuracy within a single platform. Digitally-based claims payments may lead to more efficient healthcare systems that allow payers and providers to focus on other organizational improvements.

Time marches on.