Community Health Systems is converting a Pennsylvania hospital to a walk-in clinic, the second such announcement in a week for the Franklin-based company. Mid-Valley Hospital, in Peckville, Penn., will stop offering inpatient and emergency department services in July, according to a report from the Scranton Times-Tribune. Earlier this week, The Tennessean reported that Haywood Park Community Hospital in Brownsville would also end inpatient emergency services effective July 31.

Although the federal government is spending more than $22 billion to encourage hospitals and doctors to adopt electronic health records, it has failed to put safeguards in place to prevent the technology from being used for inflating costs and overbilling, according to a new report by a federal oversight agency.

Although electronic health records are known to reduce healthcare costs, concerns about accuracy and usability—and the risk of EHR-caused medical errors—are growing. The move away from paper medical records to EHRs has many benefits, but the flip side is that providers need to carefully manage the usability, accuracy, and audit trails of EHRs across the entire care team.

An international survey of 11 developed countries, American adults are the most likely to forego treatment due to the cost, struggle to pay bills, and spend the most out-of-pocket on treatment. The results revealed that in 2013 37% of U.S. adults either didn’t see a doctor, didn’t seek the recommended treatment, or failed to fill a prescription because of prohibitive costs. This compares with only 4% of respondents in the UK and 6% in Sweden.

Doctors Medical Center, a 189-bed facility that's served West Contra Costa families since the 1950s, is almost certain to close in July after a $20 million, last-ditch parcel tax failed Tuesday night. The tax would have helped the hospital pay off its $18 million deficit and achieve some financial stability, as it continues to serve about 80,000 uninsured and underinsured patients annually. The only other hospital in the region is Kaiser Permanente in Richmond, which has a 15-bed emergency room - far too small to accommodate the 250,000 residents of El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo, El Sobrante, Pinole, Hercules, Rodeo and Crockett.

Watch the latest KTVU news coverage of the possible closure of Doctors Medical Center.