Quality and Safety
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued its final rules on Medicare Accountable Care Organizations, which bolster the menu of options for providers looking to better coordinate care for patients and aim at making it easier for providers to deliver high quality care and use healthcare dollars more wisely.
Gary and Mary West, co-founders of the West Wireless Health Institute, announced Oct. 19 the formation of a $100 million investment fund with a mission to lower healthcare costs. The West Health Investment Fund, LLC was created to spur the development and adoption of healthcare innovations specifically focused on making healthcare more affordable.
Washington Hospital Center and AT&T have launched CodeHeart, an app for doctors that provides a real-time video and audio stream that can be used to remotely examine patients in emergencies.
Continua Health Alliance will partner with the NFC Forum, a nonprofit industry association that advances the use of near field communication (NFC) technology, to expand standards-based connectivity technology in the health IT industry.
The Center for Connected Health has received a research grant from the McKesson Foundation's Mobilizing for Health initiative to integrate a text-messaging program into an existing program at Massachusetts General Hospital to help diabetes patients better manage their condition.
The U.S. healthcare system scored 64 of a possible 100 on key measures of performance, according to the third national scorecard report from the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System. The report also reveals a poor score on measures of efficiency, showing relatively low use of electronic information systems and high administrative costs.
A new article published in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety finds that differences in the quality and safety of medical treatment received by minorities could be reduced through the better use of health information technology.
Royal Philips Electronics is teaming up with Integrated Oncology Network (ION), a development, practice management and advisory firm committed to patient care and quality in oncology. The move aims to expand Philips' services to address broader issues in cancer service management.
Eastern Connecticut Health Network, Inc. (ECHN) is building an HIE, and the health system has tapped MobileMD to help get the job done, signing a five-year agreement.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office argues that, while "federal law provides CIOs with adequate authority to manage IT for their agencies," some "limitations exist that impede their ability to exercise this authority."