The application of advances in health IT that can be used to triage decisions in intensive care units (ICUs) could be a “most promising approach” to counteracting some problems with ICU processes, according to a perspective published Jan. 31 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its final rule seeking to increase public awareness of financial relationships between drug and device manufacturers and certain healthcare providers. Called the “National Physician Payment Transparency Program: Open Payments,” this is one of the steps in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act designed to create greater transparency in the healthcare market, according to the agency.

Physicians who use their EHR's clinical decision support tools are viewed more negatively by patients, according to a study published January in Medical Decision Making.

Mobile network operators (MNOs) should be one of your technology partners because they offer a range of services from access to basic telecommunications bandwidth to full, value-added healthcare services.

The pressure on healthcare organizations to improve care quality and patient outcomes, and reduce costs while also meeting Meaningful Use measures and other mandated IT efforts is driving big changes within organizations.

Despite calls for e-prescribing to address preventable medication errors, adoption remained flat through the early 2000s. Rates skyrocketed, however, from 7 percent of physicians in December 2008 to 48 percent in June 2012, according to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). While all states experienced rapidly increasing e-prescribing activity, three stand out.

Franciscan Alliance and Cigna have launched an accountable care initiative aimed at improving the quality of care for Cigna customers in the Indianapolis area.

Aetna, Memorial Hermann Health System and the MHMD Memorial Hermann Physician Network have formed an accountable care collaboration, which is anticipated to be available on April 1 in Harris, Montgomery and Fort Bend counties in Texas.