SGR watch

Medicare pay cut averted

■ After a nearly weeklong standoff over a payroll tax cut package containing a temporary Medicare physician payment patch, Congress approved a bill that delays the scheduled pay cut from Jan. 1 to March 1. The pay patch means physicians will continue to receive 2011 pay rates for an additional two months while lawmakers seek a compromise on a package that could last through the remainder of 2012.

TOP NEWS

Cyberchondria: the one diagnosis patients miss

■ Physicians say patient anxiety is increasing because of medical information read online, with self-diagnoses of diseases like fibromyalgia and lupus. All told, eight in 10 Americans who use the Internet look for health information online.

• » Most commonly searched health issues

Hospital hiring of physicians picks up steam

■ Health systems also are looking at how to hold onto their existing doctors as competition for their services heats up. Three-quarters of health care organizations say they plan to hire more physicians in 2012.

• » Data: More doctors employed by hospitals

Editor's pick

Health spending growth trimmed

■ Spending on doctors and other care slowed during the recession and has stayed slow during the recovery. Levels might not really come back until after 2014.

• » Spending growth on physician services sinks to record low
• » Costs prompting sicker patients to avoid medical care
• » Health system reform law expected to spark spending rebound