The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is soliciting EHR vendors to participate in research to support the development of procedures for measuring and evaluating the usability of health IT, according to a notice published Feb. 14 in the Federal Register.

Spotty access to reliable wireless network connections continues to suppress the use of remote patient monitoring devices, but healthcare consumers are generally comfortable with the concept and willing to comply should a doctor recommend remote.

Peake Healthcare Innovations and Vital Images, a Toshiba Medical Systems Group company, have partnered to provide the VitreaView universal viewer in a software as a service (SaaS) model hosted from Peakes cloud-based PACS vendor neutral archive.

LAS VEGASThe latest report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) is the 2011, health IT version of the 1999 IOM medical errors report called "To Err Is Human," said David Classen, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and CMIO of Pascal Metrics in Washington, D.C. Classen discussed the report, "Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care," during a presentation at the 2012 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference.

Iterative reconstruction, image processing software that reduces image noise while reducing radiation dose to patients, is the CT scanner technology garnering the most interest today, according to a white paper, CT Scanning Systems, published by the ECRI Institute.

Pediatric CT utilization in the emergency department peaked in 2008, and dropped from 2008 to 2010, according to a study published online Feb. 13 in Pediatrics. Researchers suggested that the decline may be related to increased awareness of radiation risks.

Heart failure (HF) places a huge burden on the U.S. healthcare system, with hospital readmissions contributing to a large portion of costs. Disease management through HF home monitoring offers one possible way to detect clinical declines early and intervene before patients further deteriorate. But does it improve outcomes? In recognition of National Heart Failure Awareness Week, Feb. 12-18, two physicians debate that point in the Feb. 14 issue of Circulation.

If youre anything like me, youre looking forward to the beginning of daylight savings time this month. Even though we lose an hour of sleep, the time change somehow makes it feel like there are more hours in the day.