Carestream Health has upgraded its Carestream DRX-1 system with a new smaller and lighter console.

After the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its long-awaited final rule for Stage 2 of meaningful use (MU) last week, professional associations with stakes in health IT were quick to respond with some positive and some negative feedback.

Even in an integrated system, EHRs are not able to efficiently screen patients who may be candidates for medication adherence outreach. Researchers affiliated with the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Minneapolis and the Department of Veterans Affairs used EHRs to identify patients due for statin resupplies, but only one-fifth of the patients identified were appropriate for efforts to reinstate long-term statin use, according to a study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.

A successful EHR implementation doesnt happen overnight. The planning and implementation is complex and fraught with opportunities for practice mismanagement. Not surprisingly, not all implementations are successful. Equipped with a failure is not an option mentality, how do providers move forward and recover in the face of IT failures?

Facilities not focusing on physician documentation are missing a huge opportunity, says Richard Paula, MD, CMIO of Tampa General Hospital (TGH) in Florida. EMRs allow for coding and IT teams to interact with physicians in a way that was not possible before EMRs existed.

The FDA recommended Aug. 16 that patients who have implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) with Riata and Riata ST leads, manufactured by St. Jude Medical, should have x-rays or other imaging alternatives to check for abnormalities in the insulation surrounding the lead. The agency also is requiring St. Jude to conduct three-year post-market surveillance studies on its Riata and Riata ST leads, as well as its QuickFlex LV CRT leads; QuickSite LV CRT leads; and Riata ST Optim and Durata ICD leads.

Because identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes, healthcare privacy and security enforcement activities have increased dramatically over the last two years, Linn Foster Freedman, JD, an attorney with Nixon Peabody in Providence, R.I., said during a program presented by the Rhode Island Quality Institute.

SimonMed Imaging, an outpatient physician imaging practice, will deploy Merge's radiology systems along with iConnect Access and iConnect VNA.