Surescripts has named 51 software vendors and health systems as recipients of its 2013 White Coat of Quality Award, which recognizes continuous quality improvement in e-prescribing through its Quality Management Program.

The North American healthcare cloud computing market is predicted to grow to almost $6.5 billion by 2018, according to a report from research firm MarketsandMarkets.

BOSTON--Mayo Clinic took a big leap of faith partnering with Optum Labs, said Cris Ross, CIO, speaking at the Medical Informatics World Conference on April 29.

Although healthcare employment growth has remained small due to the impact of reductions in government spending and increased regulatory burdens, the sector may be turning around. Along with increased popularity in hospital stocks by investors, a Harris Poll conducted on behalf of staffing firm Randstad Healthcare finds U.S. healthcare workers' confidence levels rebounded in the first quarter of 2014, rising 2.9 points to 58.0.

The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) found that healthcare spending surged at a 9.9 percent annual rate in the first quarter largely driven by the expansion of insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

BOSTON--What’s the best word to describe building an analytics-driven organization? “The word I would pick is strategy, as you have to be aligned with the corporate strategy or the whole system breaks down,” said Inderpal Bhandari, PhD, senior vice president and chief data officer at Cambia Health Solutions, speaking at the Medical Informatics World Conference on April 29.

Hospital operator HCA Holdings, Inc., of Nashville, Tennessee, did not see a major effect from the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual mandate in its first quarter financials and missed revenue expectations by $70 million.

Lack of basic scientific knowledge about some disease processes, costs and risks of FDA approval, limited rewards for medical products that could lower spending, treatment creep and the medical arms race all tend to increase healthcare spending without conferring major health benefits, according to a recent report.