*Q4 EPS of 92 cents excluding legal costs tops analysts' 82 cents view. Net income fell to $314 million, or 68 cents per share, compared with $1.94 billion, or $4.25 a share, a year earlier, when one-time gains from facilities sales and an investment boosted earnings.
Feb 5- HCA Holdings Inc, the largest U.S. for-profit hospital operator, reported lower fourth-quarter net earnings, reduced by costs to settle legal claims. Net income fell to $314 million, or 68 cents per share, compared with $1.94 billion, or $4.25 a share, a year earlier, when one-time gains from facilities sales and an investment boosted earnings.
Feb 4- The Obama administration on Monday proposed eliminating certain obsolete Medicare regulations, a move it said would save hospitals and other healthcare providers an estimated $676 million a year, or $3.4 billion over five years.
WASHINGTON, Jan 22- Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday its outlook for U.S. not-for-profit hospitals will remain negative in 2013, marking the fifth year the rating agency has expressed concerns about the sector.
NEW YORK, Dec 27- The NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City partially reopened its inpatient facilities on Thursday, nearly two months after it was flooded by Superstorm Sandy and sustained damages that could exceed $1 billion.
LONDON, Dec 4- Greek hospitals are in such dire straits that staff are failing to keep up basic disease controls such as using gloves and gowns, threatening a rise in multi-drug-resistant infections, according to Europe's top health official.
LONDON, Dec 4- Greek hospitals are in such dire straits that staff are failing to keep up basic disease controls like using gloves and gowns, threatening a rise in multi-drug-resistant infections, according to Europe's top health official.
*HMA denies admissions quotas, Medicare fraud. "Neither 60 Minutes nor the physicians interviewed identified any admission decision in which a physician's medical judgment was overridden by an HMA executive, much less to defraud Medicare," HMA said.
"A Health Management review shows there is no basis for an allegation admissions through our emergency department increased," Alan Levine, a senior vice president and Florida group president at Health Management, said during the call. He defended its testing procedures and said Health Management followed industry standards.
*Medtronic, Pew want final rule adopted before Jan. 1. WASHINGTON, Nov 28- A major U.S. medical device maker and a leading public interest group are urging the U.S. government to move quickly to adopt a new rule requiring manufacturers to disclose their financial ties to physicians and teaching hospitals.