China's February exports down 18 percent

BEIJING — China's exports plunged by an unexpectedly large 18 percent in February, possibly denting hopes trade will help drive the slowing economy while communist leaders push ambitious promised reforms.

Exports declined to $114.1 billion while imports rose a stronger-than-expected 10.1 percent to $137.1 billion, customs data showed Saturday.

Weakness in key European and U.S. export markets could raise the risk of politically dangerous job losses in trade-reliant industries that employ millions of workers at a time when communist leaders want to focus on restructuring China's economy.

China's official 2014 economic growth target of 7.5 percent, announced this week by Premier Li Keqiang, assumes trade also will grow by 7.5 percent. But customs data show combined imports and exports so far this year have shrunk by 4.8 percent.

The ruling Communist Party is trying to reduce reliance on trade and investment to drive growth by promoting domestic consumption and giving market forces a "decisive role" in the economy. A surge in job losses could force them to shore up growth with a stimulus based on state-led investment, setting back their reform effort.

China's trade data can be distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls at different times in January and February each year. But even grouping together the first two months of this year still showed exports fell 1.6 percent from a year earlier, while imports rose 10.1 percent.

This year's data also were expected to be unusually weak because during the comparison period in 2013 exporters were believed to be inflating sales figures as an excuse to evade currency controls and bring extra money into China for investment.

Despite that, the decline in February trade far exceeded forecasters' expectations of a contraction in low single digits. They also expected imports to grow by a similar small margin.

The official economic growth target looks unusually ambitious after last year's expansion rate fell to a two-decade low of 7.7 percent. Manufacturing weakened in February and an HSBC Corp. survey showed employers cut jobs at the fastest rate in five years.

The finance minister said this week that growth as low as 7.2 percent would be acceptable and Beijing's priority is creating jobs. Plans call for creation of 11 million jobs but the minister said as many as 13 million might be possible.

China's global trade balance swung to a deficit of $23 billion. The country often runs a trade deficit for one or months early in the year as factories restock following the Lunar New Year shutdown.

The surplus with the 27-nation European Union, China's biggest trading partner, narrowed by 22 percent to $4.1 billion. China's trade surplus with the United States narrowed by 36 percent to $7 billion.

A plunge in global demand in mid-2013 prompted Beijing to launch a mini-stimulus based on higher spending on railway construction and other public works. Growth accelerated but quickly faded once the government spending ended.

Since then, Chinese leaders have said there is little that additional stimulus can do to spur growth and improvements will have to come from longer-term reforms.

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US job gain despite freeze raises economic hopes

WASHINGTON — Job growth in the United States has proved surprisingly consistent.

Brutal winter weather snarled traffic, canceled flights and cut power to homes and factories in February. Yet it didn't faze U.S. employers, who added 175,000 jobs, far more than the two previous months.

Modest but steady hiring has become a hallmark of a nearly 5-year-old economic rebound that remains sluggish yet strikingly resilient. The economy has been slowed by political gridlock, harsh weather and global crises. But those disruptions have not derailed growth.

Though the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent from a five-year low of 6.6 percent, it did so for an encouraging reason: More people began seeking work. The unemployment rate ticked up because most did not immediately find jobs.

Friday's report from the Labor Department suggested that a long-hoped-for acceleration in growth and hiring still has not occurred. But that might not be all bad: Households have pared debt and avoided the excessive spending and borrowing that have undercut explosive economies in the past.

Total U.S. credit card debt is still 14 percent lower than before the Great Recession began in December 2007, according to the Federal Reserve.

And moderate but consistent hiring still means more people have money to spend.

"A modest expansion may very well last longer than one that bursts out with big increases in spending and debt," said David Berson, an economist at Nationwide Financial.

Some economists also suggested that having endured harsh weather, the economy may be poised to pick up soon.

"If not for poor weather conditions, job growth would have been stronger," said Michelle Meyer, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "This suggests we should see solid gains ... in coming months."

The figures were a welcome surprise after recent economic data showed that severe weather had closed factories, lowered auto sales and slowed home purchases. Along with a sharp increase in wages last month, the jobs report indicated confidence among some employers that consumer spending will increase in the near future.

The severe winter appeared to have less effect on hiring than most economists had feared. Construction companies, which usually stop work in bad weather, added 15,000 jobs. Manufacturing gained 6,000 for a second straight month. Government added 13,000 jobs, the most in six months.

Daniel Alpert, managing partner at Westwood Capital, noted that roughly two-thirds of the job growth in January and February was in higher-paying industries. That's a reversal from all of last year, when about two-thirds of job growth was in lower-paying fields.

A category called professional and business services, which includes better-paying jobs such as engineers, accountants and architects, along with some lower-paying jobs such as temporary workers, added 79,000 jobs in February. That was the most in a year.

Retailers, though, lost 4,100 jobs, transportation and warehousing firms 3,600.

Despite February's solid overall gain, the monthly average of 129,000 jobs that employers have added from December through February marks the weakest three-month stretch since mid-2012. It's down from a 225,000 average for the previous three months.

The government revised up its estimate of job gains for December and January by a combined 25,000.

Friday's report makes it likely that the Federal Reserve will continue reducing its monthly bond purchases at its next meeting March 18-19. The Fed is buying Treasury and mortgage bonds to try to keep long-term loan rates low to spur growth. Fed policymakers have reduced their monthly bond purchases by $10 billion at each of their past two meetings to $65 billion.

On Monday, Karen Wilson will start her first full-time job with benefits in nearly eight years. As a data-entry clerk for Peoria County, Ill., she will process traffic tickets, drunk-driving violations and other citations.

After a layoff in 2006, the 42-year-old worked several part-time jobs and got financial aid to return to school. Her car broke down last Thanksgiving night after accumulating 153,000 miles. She's had to wait for a bus in freezing temperatures.

Still, things are looking up. Though her new job pays just $12 an hour, "it's a foot in the door, and it can lead to so many other things," Wilson said. "I will actually get a lunch hour."

___

AP Economics Writers Josh Boak and Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.

___

Contact Chris Rugaber on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber .

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Still no price on fix for botched Health Connector site

Beleaguered Health Connector officials continue to chip away at the massive backlog of Bay Staters' applications for health insurance, but still won't say how much taxpayers will have to shell out to fix the state's entire Obamacare fiasco.

"We are working really hard to pull that together," said Sarah Iselin, the state's new temporary Obamacare czar, during a weekly conference call with reporters. "It's a complicated picture, but we'll begin reporting on that next week at the connector meeting."

Despite repeated inquiries from the Herald, state officials have said they don't yet know how much it's costing to place 62,000 Bay Staters on temporary insurance.

The good news for the Health Connector is that the total backlog of applications — once a staggering 72,000 — is now down to 43,000.

"That's a decrease of 40 percent in about three weeks," said Iselin.

She said the state is seeing an increasing interest in insurance, receiving about 2,000 applications a day, half on paper, the other half electronically.

It used to take staffers two hours to enroll each paper application — that figure is now down to 33 minutes.

Chaos and confusion have dogged the state Health Connector's woeful 
$69 million website since it launched on Oct. 1, frustrating users who have struggled to sign up for health insurance by key deadlines.

Adding insult to injury, the Herald reported this week that many Bay Staters are seeing astounding spikes in their health insurance premiums — some soaring as much as nearly $11,000 a year.

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Microsoft warns XP users the end is near

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft is preparing its customers for the end of technical support and security updates for its XP operating system.

As of April 8, Microsoft says it will retire its old, dependable operating system, which first shipped in 2001.

Greg Sullivan, Microsoft's director of Windows, says "We can't continue to support it forever."

Sullivan says it's a standard industry practice to retire operating systems in the constantly evolving tech world. He points to Apple's recent decision to end support for its Snow Leopard operating system, which shipped in 2009.

XP users are being asked to go to AmIRunningXP.com for information on how to upgrade their systems.

Microsoft is encouraging its customers to upgrade to its Windows 8 operating system, which has received mixed reviews.

Sound: Upcoming

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Wood pellet users left out in the cold

This winter's bone-chilling temperatures have led to a shortage of home-heating wood pellets, causing long lines and limits on the number of bags customers can buy, and adding a week or more to the time it takes to have them delivered.

"This is the first time in many years we're out of stock," Jeff Alcock, owner of Bark Unlimited in Shrewsbury, said yesterday. "We haven't been able to get them. We're hoping we will Friday or Saturday, but we're going to have to limit customers to 10 bags each."

On Monday, Alcock sold 950 bags — a full shipment — in three hours and 30 minutes. Customers began lining up at about 6 a.m., he said, and one man told him he'd driven 98 miles from Concord, N.H., for his 20-bag limit.

"This has never happened before," he said.

That's because wood-pellet stoves are gaining in popularity, and this winter has been exceptionally cold, not only in New England, but in many other parts of the country, as well, said Glenn Walldroff, president of Associated Harvest Inc., a Lafargeville, N.Y., pellet manufacturer.

"Demand that normally would have been concentrated in the Northeast got diluted," Walldroff said, "and you can't correct a shortage in 30 days."

Last winter, Leah Arteaga of Roslindale went through 2.6 tons of wood pellets at a cost of about $800 to heat her 2,000-square-foot home. So she thought she was playing it safe when she ordered 3 tons from woodpellets.com for this winter, only to find she now has about a week's worth left, and the company is predicting delivery will take at least two weeks.

"I worry about how cold it's going to get," Arteaga, 46, said. "It could be a long two weeks."

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Top brokers draw wealthy clients

Selling super high-end properties in Boston, those over $10 million, is a rarefied world dominated by a handful of Hub brokers.

Sometimes these brokers represent the sellers, sometimes they bring buyers to the deal.

Jonathan Radford of Coldwell Banker represented the seller of the Mason House, a 14,580-square-foot 11-bedroom mansion at 211 Commonwealth Ave., which sold last month for $12,736,000.

Radford said buyers are initially wowed by palatial homes like Mason House with features such as an ornate music room, an elevator and a five-car garage. But these signature spaces can also be intimidating.

"What can hold a buyer back is whether the home works with their current lifestyle," he said. "It's up to the agent to bring ideas to the table. If the top floor has three extra bedrooms you don't need, you bring in designers with ideas on converting the floor to an entertainment room."

Buyers are often personalities from the sports or entertainment worlds, business leaders and royalty, so not only is discretion critical, but so is having an in-depth knowledge of the high-end market here and internationally, Radford said.

"A buyer for one of these properties could come from around the corner or around the world," Radford said.

Negotiations are intense affairs, often involving not just the buyer and seller and their agents, but also each side's lawyers and financial advisers, said Radford.

"It's a juggling act keeping everyone in the loop and focused on getting the deal done," Radford said. "But the incentive is that these properties change hands rarely and for a buyer it could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

But even in super high-end homes that seemingly have it all, there can be something besides price that keeps the property from selling.

That's the case with 74 Beacon St., the so-called Benjamin Mansion, a six-floor townhouse with a media room, library, gym, elevator, a Brimmer Street garage space — and even a rooftop lap pool. It's on the market for $13.95 million and had been rented for the past year at an eye-popping $40,000 a month after failing to sell.

"As we started showing it again after the rental lease ran out, we saw that while the house has everything a person could want, what didn't click for many buyers was that the kitchen was on the garden level," said John Neale of Sprogis & Neale, which is the co-exclusive listing broker for the property along with Tracy Campion of Campion & Co.

The 8,450-square-foot six-
bedroom townhouse that overlooks the Public Garden had already undergone a three-year gut renovation several years earlier. But Neale convinced local owner/developers Peter and Elizabeth Georgantas of Peg Properties & Design to relocate the kitchen to the first floor, and to convert the former basement kitchen into a family room. Neale will relaunch the mansion when the renovations are completed next month.

Next door, Beth Dickerson of Gibson Sotheby's sold 
78 Beacon St., a six-bedroom, 7,878-square-foot renovated townhouse for $9.3 million last November, down from its original asking price of $10.75 million.

"High-end buyers at this level are all cash and can close quickly," said Dickerson. "At this price level they want garage parking and for everything to be newly done."

Will Montero of Gibson Sotheby's works as both a seller's and a buyer's agent, having brought the buyers for recent high-end property sales at the Four Seasons and The Clarendon. He's now working with three local CEOs who are looking to buy.

Montero is also the listing broker for a 9,817-square-foot Parisian-style mansion at 130 Commonwealth Ave., with its six parking spaces and 2,200-bottle wine cellar that's on the market for $13.9 million. The property is owned by a Singapore investor, who bought it for $9.5 million in 2012.

"A home like this in Singapore would cost $40 million, which appeals to international investors," Montero said. "And a lot of properties in this range are also bought by wealthy business or royal families whose children are, or will be, going to school in Boston. They want the extra space for when they come to visit."

Montero said his clients value agents who know about properties for sale before they hit the market.

"Buyers at this level are often very busy people and don't have a lot of time," Montero said. "You have to be able to get them what they want and hopefully be the first ones in. And to be able to close the deal."

He said the high-end brokers in Boston know one another and often bring buyers to one another's properties. And some properties are sold through private sales, never even hitting the market.

But Radford said he always urges sellers to list super high-end properties to get as wide exposure as possible and the most money.

"For those who do end up buying these homes, it's not just getting the right price, but they have to be the right person for the house," Radford said.

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Staples to clip 225 more stores

Staples Inc. will close up to 225 more stores — 
12 percent of its U.S. and Canadian locations — and cut $500 million in costs in the next two years as the office supplies chain continues to falter with retail consumers faced with a growing list of alternatives.

The Framingham company, which is continuing a restructuring as its sees more sales move online, yesterday reported a fourth straight quarter of declining sales. Sales dropped 11 percent to $5.87 billion from last year, missing analysts' expectations for 
$5.97 billion.

Staples' stock closed at $11.35 per share, down 
15.3 percent. It has fallen nearly 30 percent this year.

"Our customers are using less office supplies, shopping less often in our stores and more online, and the focus on value has made the marketplace even more competitive," CEO Ron Sargent said. "It's clear we underestimated the headwinds that we're facing."

Staples reduced its store footprint by more than
1 million square feet in 2013 through closings and downsizing. It now has 30 of its smaller, 12,000-square-foot stores open.

But the aggressive store closures are not going to be enough, according to analyst David Strasser of Janney Capital Markets.

"The company had years to close and shrink the store base, and stuck to its guns, and that decision is likely to impact them for the foreseeable future," he said in a research note yesterday. "Sales are declining at a faster pace than anticipated, and while Staples had attempted to rejuvenate the store through technology offerings, its limited ... assortment … as well as lacking the full line of top brands, like Apple, have made it tough to succeed in this category."

Staples.com sales improved 10 percent, however. More than 80 percent of Staples' online customers are business, as opposed to retail customers. As it continues to see fewer paper, ink and toner sales, the company has increased online offerings fivefold by adding technology products, furniture, facility and safety supplies, and items for restaurants and retail stores.

"But it will take time for those to gain enough traction to really benefit Staples' reported results," said R. Scott Tilghman, a B. Riley & Co. analyst.

Meantime, Staples likely will continue to take a hit due to its weaker-than-expected results and 2014 guidance, he said.

"Management credibility gets called into question because of that, and stock value will suffer," he said.

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Spotify snags Echo Nest

Music streaming company Spotify has bought The Echo Nest, a Somerville company that powers many online streaming radio services.

Founded at the MIT Media Lab, The Echo Nest has more than a billion data points about more than 35 million songs, information that is currently used by Spotify and many of its competitors, including Rdio, MOG and 
SiriusXM.

"We've been fans of The Echo Nest for a really long time and honored to have their talented team join Spotify," said Daniel Ek, founder and CEO of Spotify, in a release.

"Together, we're going to change how the world listens," wrote The Echo Nest co-founders Tristan Jehan, Brian Whitman and CEO Jim Lucchese in a blog post.

The Echo Nest will continue to operate independently in its Somerville and San Francisco offices.

David Blutenthal, whose app Moodsnap taps into both The Echo Nest and Spotify, said the acquisition makes sense.

"It's going to make Spotify better," he said.

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Facebook, Instagram aim to curb gun sales

Facebook and its photo-sharing subsidiary, Instagram, are taking steps to block potentially illegal firearm sales facilitated by their websites after more than 230,000 people backed a petition by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Facebook and Instagram will delete reported posts offering to sell guns across state lines or without background checks. The sites also will block users younger than 18 from viewing reported private gun sale posts or pages.

"People can report (potentially illegal) things to us, and, of course, any time law enforcement sees something, they can report it to us," Monika Bickert, Facebook's head of global policy management, said during a media conference call that included New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the heads of Moms Demand Action and Mayors Against Il­legal Guns.

The response Mothers Demand Action received from Facebook contrasted sharply with the lack of one from Staples after the group repeatedly asked to meet with a representative to urge the company to follow the lead of CVS, Costco, Starbucks and other retailers that bar guns from their stores. When 10 mothers went to Staples' Framingham headquarters Tuesday to deliver a petition signed by more than 12,000 people, a security guard took it and told them to leave the property. A company spokeswoman did not return a call or an email yesterday.

Jim Wallace, executive director of Northboro-based Gun Owners Action League, called the Staples petition "a little bit ludicrous" and minimized yesterday's Facebook announcement, saying, "We haven't done anything to get the human criminal element off the streets."

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In populist appeal, Obama spotlights minimum wage

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Mounting a show of support from like-minded governors, President Barack Obama put a spotlight Wednesday on a minimum wage push that Democrats hope will appeal to economically squeezed voters in November's midterm elections.

Standing at the center of a packed college gymnasium, Obama said raising hourly wages to $10.10 would pull millions of Americans out of poverty. While one of Obama's top priorities, the proposal is more likely to serve as a rallying cry for Democrats in the approaching election than to be adopted by Congress in the foreseeable future.

In a nod to staunch Republican opposition, Obama urged Americans to demand answers from their lawmakers about whether they support raising stagnant wages and ask if not, why not?

"Ask them to reconsider. Ask them to side with the majority of Americans," Obama said. "Instead of saying no for once, say yes."

The backdrop as Obama rallied a crowd of 3,000 at Central Connecticut State University: Four Northeastern governors — from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island — who support Obama's proposal.

More than 20 states have increased their state-level minimum wages, said Labor Secretary Tom Perez, including six in the year since Obama first called for a federal increase. Democrats believe the push will bolster a populist message about expanding opportunity that they believe offers their best shot at fending off Republicans this November.

As if to underscore how politically charged the issue has already become, Republicans seized on Obama's appearance to accuse him of threatening to obliterate badly needed jobs.

Republicans cite a study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimating the proposal would cut employment by roughly 500,000 jobs. The White House disputes that finding, while embracing another finding from the same report that says more than 16.5 million people would see higher earnings by 2016.

"The problem is Republicans in Congress oppose raising the minimum wage. Now I don't know if that's just because I proposed it," Obama said to laughter from the largely supportive crowd. "Maybe I should say I oppose raising the minimum wage, and they'd vote for it."

Poking fun right back, House Speaker John Boehner's office released a parody "fact sheet" in the style typically used by the White House to outline Obama's proposals.

The headline: "President Obama Offers Plan to Destroy Jobs for Low-Income Americans."

"When folks are still struggling to find work in this economy, why would we make that any harder?" said Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck.

Outside the gymnasium where Obama spoke, a handful of protesters waved the Ukrainian flag in apparent solidarity with Ukraine's new government, while immigration activists chanted: "Obama, don't deport my mama."

Obama's visit to a state he handily won twice served as a nagging reminder than Obama is struggling to maintain the public's support amid concerns about his health care law and a still-sluggish economic recovery. Just 45 percent of voters here approved of the president — his lowest score in Connecticut — according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week.

With an eye toward the election, Obama told about 70 donors later Wednesday that Democrats have a tendency to tune out midterms at their own peril. At an art gallery in Boston, Obama warned that Democrats could get "walloped" again this year if they turn prematurely to the 2016 presidential race.

"Nobody's going to be more interested than me in having a Democrat succeed me," Obama said. "But right now, we've got to make sure we're fighting in this election."

Obama's two Boston fundraisers were among 18 that Obama has committed to holding by mid-summer for the Democratic National Committee, which is still working its way out of deep debt more than a year after helping Obama get re-elected.

___

Follow Josh Lederman at https://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

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Cold weather puts Duck Tours on ice

Boston Duck Tours could be the latest victim of a frigid­ and stormy winter that's grounded flights, resulted in a road salt shortage and caused potholes galore.

The 20th season of the company's land-water tours could be delayed due to a frozen Charles River that could ground its fleet of nearly 30 former World War II amphibious vehicles.

Boston Duck Tours has stopped ticket sales for its March 17 launch through March 20 — a first for the company — and general manager Cindy Brown said she'll keep her fingers crossed about opening weekend.

"The river is definitely still frozen," Brown said. "Every year we say this time of year that it will melt, and every time it has melted. But this year has been unseasonably bad, and we're just worried we might not get to (that) point."

Boston Duck Tours' vehicles splash into the Charles River by the Museum of Science and could operate solely­ in the lower basin if that portion becomes ice-free, but Brown prefers being able to navigate the entire river so customers get a view of the Boston skyline.

"If it warms up, we can put (the tickets) back up for sale," Brown said. "I keep hoping for a 60-degree day, but it gets cold at night, and it keeps refreezing."

The winter weather has been a mixed bag for another winter attraction —the outdoor skating rink at the Boston Common's Frog Pond.

"Ice conditions have been amazing," general manager John Schaub said. "But given­ that it's been so cold … it keeps people away."

The low temperatures, though, will allow the rink to stay open until March 23.

Andrew Blom contributed 
to this report.

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Cybersecurity a focus for Israel’s Yehuda­ Yaakov

Forging bilateral cyber­security ties is among Yehuda­ Yaakov's goals in his new role as Israel's consul general to New England.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native wants to model the partnerships on the life sciences relationship between Massachusetts and Israel by encouraging companies on both sides to open overseas offices and drawing in local academic institutions.

Yaakov, who is based in Boston, sees similarities between the two "ecosystems," but said there's greater urgency associated with cyber­security.

"There's a very high awareness here that the cyber­attacks are running very fast and are adapting very quickly to the solutions found," he said during a Boston Herald visit yesterday.

Israel is developing Be'er Sheva, in the country's south, as its center for cyber­security. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is in Be'er Sheva, the Israeli military is moving its cyber­security units there, and entrepreneurial incubators have been established.

"I very much think our (Israel's and Massachusetts' competition) is Silicon Valley and San Francisco," Yaakov said.

An Israeli delegation of venture capital and tech firms — including Jerusalem Venture Partners, ThetaRay and CyberArk (whose U.S. headquarters is in Newton) — took part in a cybersecurity startup forum at Harvard Business School last month.

Cybersecurity is an "approachable" issue that ties into Yaakov's background, he said, noting his experience with running a counter-­terrorism and homeland security unit for Israel's Foreign Service. Yaakov relocated to Israel 30 years ago and has been a member of its foreign ministry since 1989.

Israeli companies with a Massachusetts presence generated $6.2 billion in revenue and created 6,700 jobs in 2012, according to a study for the New England-Israel Business Council released in December.

In 2012, Gov. Deval Patrick announced $1.3 million in grants to four research and development collaborations between Bay State and Israeli companies under the Massachusetts-Israel Innovation Partnership.

MassChallenge, a Boston-based startup accelerator, also established an Israeli arm last year.

A nonstop flight between Boston and Tel Aviv — which Massport and the NEIBC have been pushing — would encourage even more entrepreneurial traffic, Yaakov said.

"It would be nice if it was El Al," he said, referring to the Israeli airline. "But there's no reason why it can't be a U.S. company."

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Time may have passed for opposition to Boston MinuteClinics

Pharmacy walk-in clinics could soon come to Boston now that they no longer face mayoral opposition.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh said while he has concerns about the clinics, the mayor has no current plans to oppose their expansion into the Hub.

"As of right now, he has no intention of blocking these coming to Boston, but there's groundwork that needs to take place," Walsh spokeswoman Kate Norton said. "Convenient care clinics can provide valuable consumer service for small medical issues, but there is a real concern about the same continuity of care that an individual may receive from a neighborhood health center or from a primary care physician."

Walsh's stance is a shift from former Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who said clinics run by for-profit retailers would compromise quality of care.

Based in retail settings, the clinics' nurse practitioners or physician assistants offer basic, non-emergency health care for common minor illnesses such as ear infections and sore throats.

CVS Caremark's MinuteClinic, which has 48 Massachusetts locations, would "welcome the opportunity to open … in Boston, where we believe we can provide enhanced access to care, lower costs and improve outcomes," spokeswoman Carolyn Castel said.

A non-emergency visit to a Massachusetts emergency room costs $474 on average, while an illness visit to a primary care doctor costs $155 and a MinuteClinic visit costs $84, according to an October report by the Pioneer Institute, a public policy research group.

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Gaming panel enlisted in lawsuit vs. Mohegan

Mohegan Sun's erstwhile Palmer landlord is roping the state Gaming Commission into its lawsuit that seeks to bar Mohegan from building a casino anywhere but Palmer, demanding the commission turn over any communications between Mohegan and Suffolk Downs that might support the claim that Mohegan undercut its own Palmer casino effort to chase an opportunity in Revere.

Northeast Realty is arguing that any talks Mohegan and its chief executive Mitchell Etess had with Suffolk Downs before the casino developer lost a referendum in Palmer would violate an exclusivity agreement.

"The public records request to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission seeks to identify any communications conducted between representatives of Mohegan Sun including its attorney, Kevin C. Conroy, relating to the Suffolk Downs property, and the MGC including, but not limited to, commission staff and its Investigations and Enforcement Bureau," Northeast spokesman Paul Robbins said in a statement.

Commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the commission's legal staff is reviewing the request, and does "not have a comment on the lawsuit at this time."

The request, addressed to chairman Stephen Crosby and dated Feb. 28, asks for copies of any communications from Jan. 1, 2013, to Nov. 30, 2013, between the commission and a series of individuals "concerning the possibility or consideration of Mohegan's participating in any way in the application for a license for and/or development of a gaming facility anywhere on the Suffolk Downs Property."

The individuals include:

•   Suffolk Downs principals Richard Fields and Joseph O'Donnell.

•   House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and staff.

• Any attorneys or lobbyists associated with the law firms Foley Hoag and DLA Piper, who work for Mohegan.

• The public relations firm O'Neill and Associates, which represents Mohegan.

•   Former state Rep. Kathi-Ann Reinstein (D-Revere) and staff.

•     State Sen. Anthony Petruccelli (D-East Boston) and staff.

Mohegan Sun declined to comment on the records request.

Northeast Realty, which wants Mohegan to abandon its lease on the Palmer site, hit Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo with the same records request in January. Revere's solicitor responded that a search of voicemail and email records of Rizzo and his immediate staff "failed to produce any records responsive to your public records request."

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Dish, Disney deal envisions Internet-delivered TV

LOS ANGELES — Dish Network and Disney have reached a landmark deal that envisions the day when Dish will offer a Netflix-like TV service to people who'd rather stream TV over the Internet than put a satellite receiver on their roof.

The deal announced late Monday paves the way for Dish to offer live local broadcasts from ABC TV stations and programming from ABC Family, Disney Channel, ESPN and ESPN2 over mobile devices, set-top boxes and other means, similar to how Netflix's video streams are delivered today.

No start date for such a service was announced. It is likely that Dish will have to cut similar deals with other programmers to make such a service attractive. A Dish spokesman refused to speculate on what the offering would cost.

As part of the new rights deal, Dish Network Corp. agreed to disable — for three days after the initial broadcast — a function on its Hopper digital video recorders that allows people to automatically record and strip out commercials from prime-time weeknight programming. But that's only for programs on ABC, which is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

Dish CEO Joseph Clayton said in a statement the deal was "about predicting the future of television."

Anne Sweeney, co-chairman of Disney Media Networks, said in a statement that both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Dish's majority shareholder, Charlie Ergen, were directly involved in carving out "one of the most complex and comprehensive" deals ever.

"We planned for the evolution of our industry," she said.

With the deal, both sides are dropping a legal battle between them over the so-called AutoHop function, which had threatened to cut into the revenue of media companies like Disney by stripping out ads. Dish hasn't made public how many of its 14 million subscribers use the Hopper.

Dish customers will also gain access for the first time to Disney's WatchESPN, Watch Disney, Watch ABC Family and Watch ABC apps, which allow for live and on-demand program viewing on mobile devices in or out of the home.

Dish is also picking up a slew of new channels including Disney Junior, Fusion, ESPN Goal Line, Longhorn Network and the upcoming SEC ESPN Network when it launches sometime this fall. It also gains more access to more on-demand Disney programming.

The companies said they would work together on new advertising models. Last month, Dish announced a technology partnership with rival satellite TV company DirecTV to launch a system that helps target political ads to viewers based on where they live.

Dish and Disney said they are looking at dynamically inserting ads into programming based on viewer data, developing new ways of advertising on mobile devices, and measuring viewing for longer than the current industry standard that includes the live broadcast plus three days of DVR viewing.

The two sides have been quietly negotiating a new deal since before the last one expired at the end of September, deftly avoiding a signal blackout like the one between CBS Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. last August that caused massive subscriber defections.

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At MIT, weighing balance of privacy and big data

CAMBRIDGE  — Government, business and academic leaders gathered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Monday to discuss whether new policies are needed to regulate the use of big data, the large and complex sets of electronic information being used by companies to market products, researchers to study health problems, and as a government surveillance tool.

White House counselor John Podesta, who was appointed by President Barack Obama during a January speech about the NSA scandal to review big data collection and privacy concerns, said there is an overwhelming amount of personal information openly available online.

"We are undergoing a revolution in the way that information about our purchases, our conversations, our social networks, our movements, and even our physical identities are collected, stored, analyzed and used," Podesta said by phone. He called into the conference after his travel plans were interrupted by the snow storm in Washington.

Podesta said the government must figure out how to allow the public and private sector to capitalize on the benefits of big data, while protecting individual privacy. Monday's event at MIT was the first of three being held across the country before a final report is delivered to Obama.

Sam Madden, an MIT professor, said that the government should regulate what companies can do with the data they collect from customers. "The big question is defining what is and isn't OK," Madden said.

John Guttag, a professor at MIT, said collecting clinical data, which could prevent or treat diseases and save lives, requires people to give up some privacy. "Progress in health care is too important and urgent to wait for the problem of privacy to be solved," he said.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said big data also helps to keep businesses competitive, but only if people feel they can trust companies with this information.

"You promote trust when you reach out and explain to your customers in very simple and straightforward terms how you plan to use their data," she said.

Carol Rose, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said that's not happening.

"When companies want to use our data for something there needs to be a conversation," Rose said. "We should be able to control our data," she said.

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Mass. health care lobbying totals from 2007-2013

What some of the top hospitals, insurers, unions and health care groups spent lobbying Massachusetts lawmakers between 2007 and 2013:

1. Massachusetts Hospital Association: $4,751,767

2. Partner's Health Care: $4,483,976

3. Massachusetts Association of Health Plans: $4,289,017

4. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts: $3,361,740

5. Massachusetts Nurses Association: $2,762,524

6. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care: $2,682,964

7. Tufts Associated Health: $2,599,319

8. Massachusetts Medical Society: $2,305,776

9. Children's Hospital: $2,165,709

10. Tenet Healthcare/Vanguard Health Systems: $2,113,136

___

Source: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office

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Nanocrystals come up big

In a winter of seemingly endless snow and ice, what if there were a better way of fortifying roads against potholes?

What if this same technology could be used to build stronger bridges, create solar panels, even penetrate and selectively kill cancer cells?

They're called nanocrystals — particles so small that their width measures about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a single strand of hair. And they are so light and so strong that NASA once said they theoretically could be used to build an elevator to the moon.

"The excitement to me was that they could be made out of almost anything," said Thomas Webster, chairman of Northeastern University's Department of Chemical Engineering, "and by shrinking that thing down in size, you could change its properties."

One way to do this is to start with the material in its normal form and evaporate it into individual atoms by heating it, Webster said. The degree of heat necessary depends on the material and can range from about 100 degrees to melt a polymer such as Tupperware, to as much as 9,000 degrees to melt metal. Then the atoms are collected on a cold surface, where they condense and form nanocrystals.

These tiny particles improve the strength of materials such as metal and concrete. Webster also is looking at using a combination of selenium nanoparticles, which have anti-cancer properties, and iron oxide nanoparticles, which are magnetic.

"So one can use a magnetic force to force the selenium and iron oxide nanoparticles to only go into cancer cells, and not healthy cells, to thus selectively kill cancer cells," he said. "This provides a much better solution than chemotherapy, which kills all cells."

But back to those potholes — about 6,000 of which the Boston Public Works Department filled in January and February, up nearly 400 percent from the same period last year.

Nanocrystals of asphalt could be used to keep roads from forming as many potholes by filling cracks as they begin to form and grow, Webster said, and nanocrystals of road salt could be used to keep ice from forming or to melt it more quickly by increasing the surface area to decrease the freezing point.

"To me, that is how to get the best of both worlds, using nanotechnology," he said.

So why not use that technology now? The main reason, Webster said, is the cost of heating materials.

"Some of the nanocrystals we make cost upwards of $100 per milligram," he said. "So even though using nanocrystals will make a road last longer and probably save you money in the long run on repairs to both the road and your car, filling an 
average-sized pothole would cost about $5,000 today."

Webster is optimistic, however, that if industry partners with universities, together they would be able to reduce the cost within the next five years.

"And then," he said, "the possibilities are endless."

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Medical pot shop ads to hit Mass.

Massachusetts viewers soon will get a hit of what's expected to be the Northeast's first marijuana-related commercial on major networks.

New York-based Medical Cannabis Network has booked April airtime to advertise marijuanadoctors.com, which pairs patients with doctors who'll evaluate whether medical marijuana should be used as treatment for their serious illness or chronic pain, said founder Jason Draizin.

"We consider this alternative medicine and do not condone the recreational use or marijuana," he said.

The ad campaign comes as Massachusetts prepares for the opening of its first medical marijuana dispensaries this summer.

The company hopes to add to its database of more than 93,000 patients, 300 doctors and 500 clinics already on the site, according to Draizin. Its service allows doctors to "discreetly" build a practice that includes medical marijuana prescriptions, which can be extremely profitable for them, he said.

The commercial shows a back-alley "dealer" selling the "best sushi" from inside his jacket and includes the voiceover: "You wouldn't buy your sushi from this guy, so why would you buy your marijuana from him?"

Booked through Comcast Spotlight, it will air after 10 p.m. on national cable networks and local cable channels across the state.

The timing will coincide with April 20, also known as "4/20 day" in cannabis culture, a day on which smoking pot is celebrated.

While specific networks haven't been set, they're expected to be the same used for the commercial's New Jersey launch this weekend. They include A&E, Bravo, CNBC, CNN, Discovery, ESPN, Fox News, History Channel, MTV and USA.

State Department of Public Health regulations only cover marketing and advertising by registered medical marijuana dispensaries. "The regulations require that a certifying physician may issue a written certification only for a qualifying patient with whom the physician has a bona fide physician-patient relationship," spokeswoman Anne Roach said.

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Russian markets, ruble plummet on Ukraine fears

MOSCOW — Russia's stock market dropped about 10 percent on Monday and its currency fell to its lowest point ever against the dollar and the euro as worries grew over the potential economic repercussions of the crisis in neighboring Ukraine.

Russia intervened over the weekend to take control of Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula with strategic importance, and the new government in Kiev fears a wider invasion. The West responded by questioning Russia's membership in the Group of Eight leading industrialized democracies, and the U.S. threatened possible asset freezes and trade penalties.

The Moscow Exchange fell about 10 percent in the first hour of trading Monday, although it later recovered slightly.

The ruble, already down nearly 10 percent this year, fell below 50 to the euro for the first time. It traded at 36.89 rubles to the dollar, also a record, before stabilizing around 36.49.

The Bank of Russia decided to temporarily increase the Bank of Russia key rate by 1.5 percentage points to 7 percent in an attempt to keep the currency's fall from driving up inflation. The central bank will hold its next meeting on March 14.

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MIT’s Sloan conference gets competitive

The word for Day 2 of MIT's Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was competition.

For eight years, the conference has united professional sports teams, sports industry organizations and cutting-edge academics, all in the pursuit of appreciating and understanding sports and athletic performance with greater, more sophisticated clarity. Each attendee has expertise or interest in innovation, due to personal passions, professional obligation, or a combination of both.

Maybe sports are only a game, but at Sloan, as there is in any game, there are winners and losers. The lifeblood of the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference is the prestigious research paper competition, where academics make their cases for the next big thing in sports analysis.

Kirk Goldberry, a nationally noted visual analytics expert, visiting scholar at Harvard and three-time Sloan research paper finalist, described his research's victory as "the biggest moment of my professional career, to be honest."

"The recognition is secondary to the kind of exposure (the work) got. There are very few outlets to get this kind of exposure to the media, and this is obviously the premiere one in the sports domain."

The researchers were competing, but the games still happen on the courts, in the fields, and even in the hills. Discussions surrounding those competitions centered around fairness and competitive balance.

At the Doping & What it Means for Sport panel, disgraced former cyclist Tyler Hamilton discussed how much the unfair advantage he gained through cheating had burdened him. "I led a double life," he said. "I lied to my parents."

The Marblehead product added, "I was more worried about getting caught than winning. It took a huge toll on me."

U.S. Anti-Doping agent Travis Tygart delved into the mechanics of unfair advantages.

"Whether it's putting a small engine in a bike or taking the subway six stops in a marathon, it's unfair."

Tygart compared drugs to allowing baseball players to use aluminum bats.

"It is not going to be an even playing field," he said. "People's bodies respond differently. So it's not giving everyone an aluminum bat, it's giving someone one and the other a wood one."

New NBA commissioner Adam Silver was relieved that PEDs were not a chief concern of his league.

"I have no reason to believe that use of PEDS is widespread in he NBA, both because we test, and, No. 2, it's not part of the culture of the NBA," Silver said at the Malcolm Gladwell-moderated Commissioner's Perspective panel.

"I've been in the NBA for 22 years, I talk to players all the time, I talk to retired players all the time, and I don't hear about it."

Pressed on what made him so sure there was no NBA PED scandal lurking, Silver said, "It's hard for me to believe that, with roughly 450 players a year, a lot of players moving through the league, if there was (rampant drug use), people would be talking about it. There would be somebody. There are great journalists out there. Somebody would have found somebody that was willing to talk about it."

Cheating isn't the only realm of competitive imbalance, though. As Celtics fans are aware, NBA teams draft players via a weighted lottery system, one that, many argue, encourages teams to intentionally lose in the pursuit of talented college prospects.

Recently, and around the conference, there has been increased discussions about altering how the draft order is determined. One proposal, submitted by Celtics assistant GM Michael Zarren, made its way to the commissioner' desk.

"Mike came up with this proposal where over the course of 30 years, you move throughout (the first round) in terms of your draft pick," Silver said. "This goes to show why you really need to study these issues, because when Mike first brought it to me, I thought 'Wow, that solves our problems. Teams can plan for the future, they have absolutely no incentive to do anything but win the maximum number of games per season. They know where the draft pick is coming from.' "

Rival GMs raised concerns about the ramifications of such a system, but, importantly, as the commissioner noted, "I'm open to taking a fresh look at it."

Sharing ideas like a new model for the NBA draft lottery is what the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference is all about. Rishabh Desai, a first-year basketball operations analyst for the Sacramento Kings, discussed the kinds of information being shared by competing sides.

"(Sometimes) it's really broad, because no one wants to share their 'secret sauce,' or whatever they're doing," he said, "but it's just 'Hey, are you guys using this program?' compe"

For all the competitive edges that can be quantified, there are still many that elude even the most active imaginations. At the 10,000 Hours vs. The Sports Gene panel, "The Tipping Point" and "Outliers" author Malcolm Gladwell discussed the greatness of Wayne Gretzky, sharing an anecdote about The Great One being transfixed by a televised hockey game as a toddler who would burst into tears when the games would finish.

"Even at (a young age) there was something about the game of hockey that satisfied him and thrilled him on some deep emotional level, before he could execute any of the physical moves associated with it. The game fit his imagination. I don't know what that means; it must be something innate. But it's something quite different from what we normally associate with hockey skill. In other words, Wayne Gretzky has a series of physical attributes that make him as great hockey player, but he also has this weird thing about how the game fits his imagination. So it's almost as if we're talking about Wayne Gretzky the same way we would talk about a musical composer."

The winner of the 2014 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference research paper competition was "The Three Dimensions of Rebounding," which broke down crashing the boards into three dimensions — positioning, hustle and conversion. Presented by Rajiv Maheswaran and compiled alongside a team of researchers, the paper explored the reasons players like Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Andre Drummond and Kevin Love are so efficient, despite vastly different skill sets and playing styles.

Unlike sports games, however, there were no real losers. Even the papers that did not take home the $20,000 prize had their ideas heard, and made their contributions to the budding athletic analytics field. These are the minds that will lead to the next generation of player evaluation, strategic efficiency, and organizational success.

These ideas will lead to real wins, in every sports field.

And as Hamilton put it, when asked about the motivations looking to cutting edge for a leg-up in competition, "The culture here in the United States is all about winning, whether it's in sports or business."

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Volvo needs 20 minutes of highway driving to warm up

I have an issue with my car warming up slowly when the temperature gets down around 0 degrees F. The car is a 2011 S40 Volvo with the T5 engine. The dealer confirmed that the issue I describe is happening but say they checked another 2011 S40 they had on the lot and it did the same thing. I find it strange that it takes 20-minutes-plus on the highway to reach operating temperature and that if you stop and run the heater at full output the engine temperature drops.

You didn't mention how long you've owned the vehicle and whether this is the first winter in which you've experienced this problem. Regardless, I'm surprised the dealer didn't at least check the thermostat for proper function. Like most liquid-cooled engines, your vehicle utilizes a thermostat to restrict coolant flow until coolant temperature reaches 194 degrees F, then maintains coolant temperature in the 194-221 range.

If the thermostat fails to close properly when the engine is cold or sticks in a partially or fully open position, symptoms will be precisely what you've described — long warm-up times and the inability to maintain operating temperature, particularly in cold weather.

Why not apply the KISS principle and try the simple stuff first — replace the thermostat and make sure the coolant level is full. Keep in mind that if the coolant temperature gauge reads significantly below normal, but you're still getting hot air from the heater system, the issue may be a faulty coolant temperature sensor mounted on the thermostat housing.

I like to back my 2009 Silverado Hybrid 6.0-liter V8 into my driveway. That way I don't have to back out, which is considerably safer. I currently have a large snowbank at the end of my driveway. On two occasions I have backed my truck into the snowbank. The tailpipe ended up obstructed with snow and ice. When I started the truck the next day, the engine idled very roughly — almost violently — and the "Low Engine Power" alarm appeared on the dashboard. The snow and ice melted from the tailpipe fairly quickly and the engine eventually regained power and operated normally. Ultimately the "Service Engine Soon" alarm cleared on its own. It has been over a week since the second occurrence and I have noticed no ill effects after the engine started operating normally again. Is there any possibility of undetected damage?

I don't think so. The warning lights, alarm and driveability issues were directly related to the restricted exhaust. A failed catalytic converter or physically damaged exhaust pipe could cause the same thing. Potential damage, although very unlikely in this case, could include engine overheating, catalytic converter failure, pre-ignition/detonation or burned exhaust valves.

In the "Low Power" mode of operation the engine management system operates in a self-protective mode to prevent any damage — which "saved the day" in this case.

What is the current thinking on the value of daytime running lights (DRL) as a safety feature? Some states have legislated their use. Our 2006 Buick Lucerne has them, but our new Chrysler minivan does not.

The idea behind DRLs is to increase visibility of your vehicle to other vehicles around you. There is no federal mandate but some carmakers install DRLs as standard equipment. Because they need to be visible in daylight, there have been complaints that some DRLs are too bright but with the increased use of HID and LED systems I believe this issue will fade.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn. 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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App will put you in your spot

Parking in the Hub is getting easier, thanks to a new crop of apps and services designed to put your car in a spot without the hassle or stress of searching for one.

The newest of these apps is SpotHero, which is now live in Boston. Touting itself as the Orbitz of parking, SpotHero matches drivers looking for a spot with discounted spaces in garages and lots that otherwise would go unfilled.

"We help drivers know exactly where they are going to go and how much they are going to pay for a parking space," said Jeremy Smith, co-founder of SpotHero. "Our vision and our dream is to make life easier for the daily driver."

Using an app, drivers can punch in an address or neighborhood, see nearby garages that have open spaces and pay for and reserve the spot from their phones. "You get peace of mind just by knowing exactly where you are going to go," Smith said. "You also know exactly how much you are going to pay. It's peace of mind."

The average space, Smith said, is discounted 20 to 25 percent, but some drivers in Boston have gotten as much as 40 percent off the advertised price. The average cost of parking in Boston for 12 hours is $25, Smith said.

SpotHero also brings in more money for lot owners and operators, Smith said, because more spots are filled.

Smith began searching for a better way to find parking after he racked up thousands of dollars in parking tickets.

"It just turns out that there are a lot of people in the same boat," Smith said.

SpotHero is also available in six other cities, including Chicago and New York City, but the idea of making parking easier and smarter is nothing new in Boston.

In December, the city rolled out Smart Parking Sensors in the Innovation District, which show available metered parking spaces on an app.

"You see a lot of smart technologies in the transportation space," said Kris Carter of the Office of New Urban Mechanics, which helped develop the system. "People are able to make better decisions about where they're going to go."

Part of the reason for the sensors was to examine demand and use in the area. Carter said snowy weather has prevented New Urban Mechanics and the Department of Transportation from collecting significant information, but he expects the data will begin to flow in the spring.

TicketZen, an app that lets drivers who stayed at the meter too long pay off those neon orange tickets, also launched in December. Users pay off an average of $65 in parking tickets, creator Cort Johnson said.

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Area hospitals get healthier

The sustainability trend is finally coming to the hospital industry in a big way.

Dozens of Massachusetts hospitals — including six in just the past month — have signed on to a national initiative to get "healthier" by improving their food options, cutting waste and reducing energy use.

"We felt we needed to be part of the solution by providing a healthier environment," said Vanessa Kortze, spokeswoman for Lawrence General Hospital, which joined the Healthier Hospitals Initiative last week.

Lawrence General is starting with changes to its food and beverage options. Already, the hospital has cut sugary sodas from its catering menu and almost entirely from patient menus, and rearranged drinks in its cafeterias so water, not soda, is eye-level. Next, food and nutrition director Rick McIsaac plans to revamp the hot meals.

Some foods — fried chicken, Alfredo sauce, onion rings — have no place in a hospital, McIsaac said.

"That's not really appropriate to have inside a health care institution," he said. "It should be 'come get your grilled chicken on a bed of lettuce with a seltzer water.'"

At Partners Healthcare, John Messervy, director of capital and facility planning, acknowledged such changes can come with higher costs.

"That's one of the struggles: how do you balance the increased cost of the locally grown produce against the health benefits of that," Messervy said. "Some of our hospitals have said it's not a significant difference and others are still wrestling with it."

But the region's dominant health care system, which was one of the founders of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative in 2012, has made other changes that already are paying back, he said. Partners spent $60 million to reduce energy use, but that investment was returned in less than four years.

"Often, people think going green is more expensive. What we've been able to show is sustainability is a smart business decision," said Seema Wadhwa, director of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative. "Wasting less means saving more."

The initiative has enrolled about 900 hospitals nationwide, which agree to tackle any of six categories: engaged leadership, healthier food, leaner energy, less waste, safer chemicals and smarter purchasing.

These seemingly different goals are grouped together, Messervy said, because, "In the end it really is about looking to reduce the chemical exposure of our patients and our employees. The chemical exposure comes from lots of different areas: from carbon-based fuels, from additives in food, from various toxic chemicals ... even some of the clinical instruments."

The Massachusetts Hospital Association, which officially became a supporter of the program in February, is working to enroll more hospitals and share best practices with them.

"Our hospitals and staff are extremely busy right now," said Anuj Goel, the MHA's vice president of legal and regulatory affairs. "They don't have time to do a lot of searching nationally and see what is out there. We're getting all that and saying 'here you go.'"

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