When it comes to cholesterol levels, motherland mattersor more precisely, factors related to the economy and healthcare systems of a nation matter, according to the results of a paper published online April 9 in Circulation. The study examined the relationship between country-level factors and elevated cholesterol rates in patients with a history of hyperlipidemia.

Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Herb Kohl, D-Wis., authors of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, have outlined substantive points to guide federal implementation of the act. Grassley and Kohl wrote to the Acting Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner with their points and also asked questions about when CMS will begin data collection.

Alabama Power, an electricity company, is partnering with 27 hospitals across the state and Birmingham-based healthcare technology company Proventix Systems to help reduce healthcare-associated infections.

Electronic patient record (EPR) buying and selling energy outside of North America is still developing for most countries, with a majority of activity in Asia, the Middle East, and the U.K, according to a report from market researcher KLAS.

Web-based team resource management (TRM) demonstrates potential for effectiveness in various ambulatory settings, according to research published in the March edition of The American Journal of Managed Care.

Weill Cornell Medical College has established the Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy (CHiP) to improve health and healthcare through informatics and technology.

There is early but growing evidence that patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) have the potential to improve care for individuals, the health of populations and slow the growth in costs of healthcare by reviving primary care and bringing the patient and family to the center of the care-delivery system (ie, achieving the triple aim), according to an article in the March issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.

Patients with gastrointestinal disorders received increasing levels of cumulative radiation exposure from 1999 to 2009, according to a study published in the March issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The authors called for the development of evidence-based guidelines for image analysis among this population.