Miriam Schwarz, along with medical student Anne Cotter and Drs. Richard Bunio (Cherokee Indian Hospital) and MaryShell Zaffino (Blue Ridge Community Health Services), are participating in the 2017 NCMS Leadership College. The NCMS Leadership College Program "builds and enhances physician and PA leadership skills and equips graduates to become more influential in motivating and inspiring their peers to be leaders in their medical settings and their communities." Dr. Bunio, Anne and Miriam are carrying out their 2017 leadership project as a team. Their project involves collecting data about physician attitudes and practices related to opioid prescribing and pain management. 

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Mission Health, a hospital system in Western North Carolina, announced this week that it would close its maternity ward at Angel Hospital in Franklin, North Carolina. The hospital serves a mostly low-income, rural population. Mission Health said it cut the hospital's labor and delivery services to remain solvent in the face of low reimbursement rates.

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ASHEVILLE - Federal spending to help lower- and middle-income wage earners buy health insurance would drop dramatically in North Carolina under the health care law winning approval in the U.S. House last week.

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The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has received multiple reports of 'WannaCry' (also known as 'WannaCrypt') ransomware infections in several countries around the world and in the United States.  Some of these infections are impacting patient access to care.  Ransomware is a type of malicious software that infects a computer and restricts users' access to it until a ransom is paid to unlock it.  Individuals and organizations are discouraged from paying the ransom, as this does not guarantee access will be restored.