Forty-nine states and Washington, D.C., already have taken action supporting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acts (PPACA) implementation, such as passing legislation, issuing regulations or other guidance, or actively reviewing insurer filings, according to an issue brief from Commonwealth Fund.

Off-pump compared with on-pump CABG surgery offered no significant mortality, stroke or MI benefit, based on a systematic review published March 14 in the Cochrane Review. The review found patients with ischemic heart disease who underwent on-pump CABG with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass and cardioplegic arrest had better long-term survival than did patients who received an off-pump procedure.

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) has issued a statement recommending that healthcare facilities avoid the use of bismuth shielding for CT dose reduction.

Interoperability continues its slow but steady trudge forward with a few hiccups back. The latest steps forward include a rise in EHR adoption rate among primary care providers from 20 percent to nearly 40 percent since 2009, according to Farzad Mostashari, MD, national coordinator for health IT; and the announcement that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT will advance the growth and spread of health information exchange by specifying the next layer of core standards and policies this year. One small step in place, if not backward, is the three-month delay in enforcement action against any entity that is required to comply with the HIPAA Version 5010 transaction sets.

Ascension Health Alliance, created in January when Ascension Health changed its organizational structure to include a parent holding company, has formed a group purchasing organizationand made moves to continue its acquisition streak.

When the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's (UPMC) pathology department conducted a pathology visualization study, Barco's Coronis Fusion 6MP DL medical display outscored other display modalities in a comparison that included consumer displays and medical displays, when viewing whole-slide images.

Telcares BGM, the blood glucose meter that looks like a cellphone and wirelessly uploads diabetics blood-sugar readings to password-protected websites, will soon be able to send readings to Caregiver, the cloud-based web app created by elder-care company Independa.

Improvements in reimbursement, falling equipment prices and pushes for better infrastructure are driving the penetration of telehealth. Rural counties across the U.S. are improving care and saving money through such telehealth services as videoconferencing and remote monitoring. The utilization of these practices will only increase in prevalence, reaching patients in every nook and cranny.