For physicians to practice evidence-based medicine, decision-making must be based on the best available data that are frequently, consistently and systematically identified and displayed. Traditionally, providing that type of information to physicians at the point of care has been challenging; however, new tools, which allow for interoperability and flexibility, provide a practical solution.

The National Quality Forum has endorsed 12 patient safety measures focused on complications, including falls, pressure ulcers, infections and other quality concerns.

Predictive analytics will, for the first time, help the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services meet its goal to prevent fraud via its Fraud Prevention System (FPS), but the program suffers from inconsistent data and flawed methodology that make it impossible to track inaccuracies, according to the Office of the Inspector General, under the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

The advantages of EHRs also can become their biggest liability. According to a review by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, mistakes and near misses involving EHRs were similar to those made with paper-based records except that EHRs tend to cause those mistakes to grow and affect more people.

Ohio, Kentucky and Maine were recognized during the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT's (ONC) annual meeting on Dec. 12 as the states using health IT in ways that will make a meaningful difference in healthcare for patients.

Pantheon has entered into a five-year, $11.6 million contract with the federal government to redesign and expand a website building tool offered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Many hospitals are making strides toward safer environments for their patients, but errors and infections persist as top safety concerns, according to an update to the Hospital Safety Score published by the Leapfrog Group.

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems has partnered with Aviacode, a Salt Lake City developer of technology-enabled medical coding services, to provide cloud-delivered medical coding services to NextGen's clients.