By STEVE TWEDT, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A consultant who specializes in resolving workplace conflicts says the No. 1 reason people leave jobs is because of a poor relationship with their immediate supervisor.

Yet another consultant reports that workplace conflicts can consume more than 40 percent of a typical manager's time.

Why can't we get along at work?

You would think that with the national unemployment rate above 9 percent that those who are employed would hang onto their jobs for dear life.

You would be wrong.

The next time you search the Internet for medications, watch out -- there's a chance you'll be diverted to an illegal online pharmacy website.

A nonprofit consumer group has launched a website to help patients nationwide get cost estimates, by Zip code, for several medical procedures, as well as estimates of what they can expect insurers to reimburse for out-of-network care.

A new smart phone application promises to save lives by providing field support to emergency medical services staff and other first responders.

The EMS Field Partner, an Apple iPhone application, comes from Pittsburgh-based West Penn Allegheny Health System.

One little-noticed health care change going into effect this month appears in Section 3114 of the Patient Safety and Affordable Care Act.

In short, it says certified nurse midwives will now receive the same Medicare reimbursement as physicians when they provide the same services, from prenatal care to routine deliveries. They had been getting only 65 percent of the physician's fee.

PITTSBURGH - Justin Stadelmyer, 20, a Duquesne University finance major, has lined up several great internships.

"You have to put yourself in a position to give yourself options," he said. If there's only one job for a prospective college graduate in this sluggish economy, Justin Stadelmyer intends to land it.

Even before the national economic tsunami hit two years ago, Moon, Pa., dentist Robert J. Baker and office manager Marie Lindeman noticed that more of their patients had started paying cash for checkups. Others simply had stopped coming, except when an abscessed tooth became unbearable.

Ever feel like rapping a co-worker on the head because of his behavior in the office break room?

The staffing-service company OfficeTeam recently completed a phone survey of 432 office workers in which they were asked what they considered the most annoying workplace break-room habits.

The infamous "doughnut hole" gap in Medicare prescription coverage -- which requires beneficiaries to pay 100 percent of medication costs after they've used up their initial coverage but haven't yet hit a "catastrophic" level -- is closing under the new health care reform law.

That's the good news.