Medical Record Bank (MRB) has developed an internet-based digital personal medical record system that collects data from all of an individual's healthcare providers, enabling a patient and authorized providers to access medical records anywhere.

Standard Register has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 100 percent ownership interest in Dialog Medical, a provider of informed consent and patient education systems for physician practices and hospitals.

Prime Healthcare Services has expanded its partnership with FormFast for its document management capabilities, allowing 14 facilities managed by Prime Healthcare and its affiliates can leverage FormFasts on-demand document management workflow for assistance with medical records, revenue cycle and patient registration processes.

Employees are increasing bringing into the workplace their personal mobile devices and security of these devices is needed in a health IT environment, according to Dan Dearing, group director of mobile strategies at BoxTone, a mobile service management software provider in Columbia, Md., who addressed a webinar May 24 hosted by the Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Diagnostic imaging for low back pain, ECG screening of asymptomatic patients, DEXA screening of younger women and imaging of minor head injuries in children were identified as commonly ordered tests with minimal benefits or risks that outweigh benefits, according to a report published May 23 in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Two years ago, University of Chicago Hospitals launched a Continuous Quality Improvement project aimed at reining in the impact of reimbursement cuts in CT imaging. The project revised the definition of turn-around time, applied basic principles of electronic workflow orchestration to the scanning suite and yielded astounding results, shared Paul J. Chang, MD, professor and vice chairman, radiology informatics and medical director, enterprise imaging at University of Chicago Hospitals.

Swift, effective care and smart economics rest on getting patients through the emergency room as soon as possible. IT that delivers patient flow data plays a major role in maximizing efficiencies within the emergency department (ED).

A familiar saying has been applied to accountable care organizations. Theyre like unicorns: Everybody knows exactly what [ACOs] look like, but no one has ever seen one, says Barry Bershow, MD, of Bershow Consulting, in Chanhassen, Minn.