Measurable medical errors that harmed patients cost an estimated $17.1 billion in 2008, according to research published in the April edition of Health Affairs. This figure amounted to 0.72 percent of the $2.39 trillion spent on healthcare that year in the U.S.

April 18 marked the first day physicians could attest to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)  to receive Medicare incentive payments for meaningful use of EHRs. Douglas Foreman, DO, a family physician in Warwick, R.I., will be among the first physicians in the U.S. to attest to meeting Stage 1 requirements for Medicare meaningful use of health IT, according to Ingenix.

Despite progress during the past decade, the nation still faces challenges in making healthcare safe, effective, efficient, patient-centered, timely and free of disparities, according to a health policy brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Healthcare providers at River Park Hospital, a 125-bed full service hospital in McMinnville, Tenn., are using Shareable Inks conversion technology to document anesthesia cases.

The American Medical Association (AMA) voiced concerns over burdensome federal regulations in a letter sent last week to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) must be built on a foundation of primary care, must have robust reporting capabilities and must ensure prompt rewards for high-quality, efficient care, according to an April 14 Commonwealth Fund report, High Performance Accountable Care: Building on Success and Learning from Experience.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has introduced four initiatives designed to offer states more flexibility to coordinate care for Medicaid and Medicare recipients while helping to reduce costs.

Cooper University Hospital of Camden, N.J., has awarded MedQuist Holdings a contract to provide computer-assisted coding technology and outsourced coding services.