Affordability is the top driver of the majority of U.S. consumers' (72 percent) healthcare decisions among those who plan to join insurance exchanges. Less than one-third (30 percent), however, are willing to change doctors or healthcare settings to reduce costs, according to a new survey of 3,209 people by Accenture.

As a follow up to the recently announced Patient Engagement Framework, the National eHealth Collaborative has launched an affiliated online assessment tool.

Patients with diabetes enrolled in an intervention utilizing online tools to assist with self-management achieved slightly better health outcomes than diabetic patients receiving usual care, according to research published online Nov. 20 by the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Merge Healthcare will connect its imaging network with the Surescripts Network for Clinical Interoperability. This connectivity will allow hospitals and imaging centers to electronically deliver imaging reports to care provider organizations through EHRs on the Surescripts Network.

Patients with online access to their medical records and secure email communication with clinicians had increased use of clinical services, including office visits and telephone encounters, compared to patients who did not have online access, according to a study appearing in the Nov. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A comparison of care provided during virtual and physical interactions with providers revealed that e-visits could reduce healthcare costs despite their correlation with higher prescribing rates, according to a research letter published online Nov. 19 by the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) has unveiled its patient engagement framework, a model to help guide health organizations through the process of developing and refining health IT-enabled patient engagement strategies.

North Mississippi Health Services is a recipient of the 2012 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a presidential honor annually bestowed upon organizations in four different sectors for outperforming their industry’s status quo.