Thomson Reuters, in its fourth annual study identifying the top U.S. health systems based on balanced system-wide clinical performance, has culled data from more than 300 organizations to single out 15 hospital systems that achieved superior clinical outcomes based on a composite score of eight measures of quality, patient perception of care and efficiency.

Public reporting on non-emergent PCIs in New York identified very high and low performers but provided insufficient information to differentiate between most hospitals, and it appeared to have had no effect on market share or physicians' decisions to leave practice, according to study authors, who published research in the January issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Hospitals in western European countries spent $3.2 billion on health IT in 2010, and the European Coordination Committee of the Radiological, Electromedical and Healthcare IT Industry (COCIR) estimated that spending will grow to $3.5 billion annually by 2015, based on results of a survey conducted by the Brussels-based nonprofit trade association.

Despite recognizing that success with new healthcare delivery and reimbursement models will depend on commitments to quality, service and efficiency, hospitals havent done enough to prepare for ongoing and planned healthcare initiatives, according to a report by Towers Watson, a financial management firm.

Despite sometimes extreme differences among five patient-centered medical home-like healthcare organizations that researchers identified as promising models for treating patients with complex healthcare needs, they generally shared several qualities that researchers considered essential.

Cigna and the Weill Cornell Physician Organization, an 850-member group practice in New York City, are partnering to create a collaborative accountable care organization (ACO) initiative, which will adopt a healthcare delivery model similar to the ones demonstrated by accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes.

The Joint Commission has appointed seven new members to its board of commissioners.

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) delivery model is expected to coordinate and improve the quality of care, but little research has investigated the effects of the PCMH on provider and support staff morale, according to a report published Jan. 9 in the Archives of Internal Medicine. To learn how they feel, researchers surveyed employees of healthcare organizations with PCMH-like characteristics and received positive overall responses.