Simione Central Holdings, Atlanta, has settled its billing and collection services dispute with Nashville, Tenn.-based Columbia/HCA for $7 million. Simione's agreement to provide services to Columbia's Georgia home care operations was severed December 1, 1998, when Columbia sold its home care locations to Amedisys Inc. Under the settlement, Columbia will pay $7 million and Simione will continue to provide billing services to the Georgia locations for 120 days, officials said.

Simione plans to invest the settlement money in sales and marketing efforts related to the upcoming launch of software products, said Barrett O'Donnell, chair and chief executive.

Respiratory Care Plus, Upper Nyack, N.Y., has received accreditation with commendation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

The Med Group, Lubbock, Texas, has introduced Performance Driven Quality, a survey system designed to help members track and report information to Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations under the Oryx initiative. The system measures customer satisfaction and incidences of equipment failure, officials said.

TMC Medical Equipment and Services, Tallahassee, Fla., was listed by Inc. magazine as one of the nation's fastest-growing private companies.

Amedisys Inc., Baton Rouge, La., has developed a corporate compliance plan that it will present to its board of directors for adoption. The program is designed to ensure that employees comply with the "complex web" of statutes and regulations that govern health care providers, officials said.

MC Medical,a Ponce, Puerto Rico-based provider of home medical equipment, enteral nutrition and respiratory services, has received accreditation with commendation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.