The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a request for information regarding the collection and reporting of clinical quality measures.

HIMSS Analytics has recognized Florida Hospital North Pinellas, an Adventist Health System facility in Tarpon Spring, Fla., with its Stage 7 Award. The award represents attainment of the highest level on the EMR Adoption Model (EMRAM), which is used to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has published a health IT patient safety plan that builds off of the Institute of Medicine's recommendations to more fully describe the role of health IT in terms of patient safety and to identify ways multiple stakeholders can work to use health IT to strengthen patient safety efforts.

For physicians to practice evidence-based medicine, decision-making must be based on the best available data that are frequently, consistently and systematically identified and displayed. Traditionally, providing that type of information to physicians at the point of care has been challenging; however, new tools, which allow for interoperability and flexibility, provide a practical solution.

With several pay-for-performance initiatives set to expand in the near future, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined private sector initiatives that base or adjust physician payment rates on care quality and efficiency, and assessed their applicability to the Medicare program.

“Get planning,” said Sira Cormier, MBA, principal of CSC, which operates the New England Healthcare Exchange Network. “ICD-10 is not just an IT problem. Everybody needs to be involved in the planning.” Cormier and her coworker spoke during the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium’s forum on ICD-10 on Dec. 13.

The National Quality Forum has endorsed 12 patient safety measures focused on complications, including falls, pressure ulcers, infections and other quality concerns.

On the surface, efforts to simultaneously improve healthcare quality and efficiency may appear at odds, but research published Dec. 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggest that reduced hospital lengths of stay correlate with lower readmission rates.