The Joint Commission and SGS Group will offer hospitals the option of applying for accreditation and certification to ISO industry best practices standards in 2012, according to a Nov. 2 release.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a draft document outlining technical evaluation, testing and validation of the usability of EHRs. The documentopen for public comment until Nov. 10presents a three step process for design evaluation and human user performance testing for an EHR.

As the second largest federal agency, employing approximately 314,000 people and running a budget of $126 billion, the Department of Veterans Affairs maintains the largest healthcare system in the U.S., explained Kurt Finke, director, Office of Healthcare Technology Management, Veterans Health Administration, during a keynote speech at the Northeastern Healthcare Technology Symposium Thursday Nov. 3, in Groton, Conn.

One of the most important aspects to equipment planning is meticulousness, noted presenter Danielle C. McGeary, MS, BME, clinical engineer and project manager at Hartford Healthcare, during a presentation at the Northeastern Healthcare Technology Symposium Thursday, Nov. 3, in Groton, Conn.

Modern medical education emphasizes the value of the randomized, controlled trial, and physicians learn early not to rely on anecdotal evidence. However, the application of such superior evidence can be constrained by trials' strict inclusion and exclusion criteria or the complete absence of a relevant trial, according to a perspective paper published Nov. 2  in the New England Journal of Medicine.

GE Healthcare and University of Iowa Health Care will collaborate on ultra-high field MRI to study brain disorders.

The balance between the business side of healthcare and quality of patient care is challenging for U.S. physicians, according to a survey from Wolters Kluwer Health, conducted in August. Eighty-eight percent of respondents cited finding this balance as a challenge but most have seen improvements in efficiency and quality over the past two years. Forty-two percent of physicians disagree that the efficiency of providing care has increased, however, and 37 percent disagree that quality of care has increased during this timeframe.

Monrovia, Calif-based Radcal will distribute medical imaging phantoms in the U.S. produced by England-based Leeds Test Objects, according to an agreement announced Nov. 1.