Study Suggests New Ways to Assess Hospital Quality
It's a new year, time to ring out the old, ring in the new, and reassess existing notions that, like some of those old sweaters, just don't fit anymore. For example, a new study from the Yale School of...
View ArticleLow Healthcare Spending Linked to Poor Economy, Low Utilization
The United States’ spending on healthcare increased by just 3.8 and 3.9 percent in both 2009 and 2010 respectively; these figures represent the lowest rate of increase in the entire 51 year history of...
View ArticleGastric Bypass Surgery – Extreme Makeovers for Obese Teens
It seems that gastric bypass surgery is way more popular than Justin Bieber. At a time when most teens should be contemplating their friends' latest Facebook post, there's instead a large segment...
View ArticleBaptist, Geisinger and Banner Among Top Performing Health Systems: Thomson...
Our congratulations to three frequent contributors to HIN for taking top honors in Thomson Reuters’ annual Best Hospitals list: Banner Health, a leader in ER efficiency, Geisinger Health System, on the...
View ArticleCan Reality Programming Help to Prevent Diabetes? Stay Tuned
Think "The Real Patients with Diabetes:" a reality series follows six patients with Type 2 diabetes. While it may not draw the legions of viewers of a "Real Housewives" franchise, UnitedHealth Group...
View ArticleSurvey Finds Many Healthcare Organizations Use Physician Alignment Criteria...
Almost half of all healthcare organizations are using physician alignment criteria in their incentive plans, according to a new survey from Integrated Healthcare Strategies. The survey, which monitors...
View ArticleThe Supreme Court and the Buzz on Healthcare Reform
Forget Hunger Games; healthcare reform was the main draw this past week as the Supreme Court presided over three days’ worth of hearings on the Affordable Care Act. According to news reports, two of...
View ArticleStress Imaging Tests, Chest X-Rays Among 5 Tests That Might Be Unnecessary
Maybe you should think twice before agreeing to that MRI, according to a new campaign underway to identify specific medical tests or procedures that are commonly used but not always necessary. As...
View ArticleNew HCAHPS Measure Would Evaluate Quality of Care Transitions
Beginning in January, patients discharged from the hospital could be asked three key questions to assess the quality of their care transitions, as part of a proposed new measure in the Hospital...
View ArticleUnited States Rates Higher Than Most Nations in Diabetes-Related Deaths
Obesity and diabetes continue to make headlines, and are the subjects of two of our stories this week. The first: the United States has among the highest rates of obesity and diabetes-related deaths...
View Article10 Ways Health IT Can Enhance Patient Care, Reduce Costs
Caught between emerging advances in health information technology and the weight of the struggling economy, it is difficult to improve the provision of care and enhance the patient experience and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Surviving Sandy: The Aftermath
Remains of the Sea Girt boardwalk Rumor has it the "Jersey Shore" cast will reunite for a fundraiser to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy. Their efforts will certainly be appreciated. In the meantime,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Infographic: How the Sequester Will Impact Healthcare
The government-wide spending cuts known as the sequester underway since March 1, 2013 are adding to the urgency to transform healthcare. Cuts to domestic and military healthcare spending will increase...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Infographic: Healthcare.gov is Fundamentally Flawed
The launch of the healthcare.gov website was plagued with large-scale problems, and some of the issues have yet to be fixed. Only .38 percent of visitors- or 36,000 people - were able to complete...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Infographic: Big Data Tools Fight Medicare Fraud & Abuse
Over the past five years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has successfully implemented a Fraud Prevention System using "big data" and predictive analytics approaches to fight fraud,...
View Article
