Making patient records available in the emergency department (ED) through a health information exchange (HIE) could boost adherence to guidelines and reduce unnecessary CT and MRI exams among patients who present to the ED with chronic headache, according to a study published online May 31 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. However, the study reported HIE use did not reduce costs.

Between 2011 and 2013, U.S. healthcare spending is projected to grow at least 4 percent, on averageslightly above the historically low growth rate of 3.8 percent in 2009, according to an article published June 12 in Health Affairs.

The Leapfrog Group is now to hospitals as a teacher is to studentsat least in the age-old educators duty of grading exams from A for outstanding to F for failing. The Washington, D.C.-based healthcare-quality watchdog launched its hospital report-card system, the Hospital Safety Score, June 6 to show healthcare consumers how their local hospitals measure up on various criteria for safety.

Eleven integrated health systems have combined de-identified data from their EHRs to form a private-sector diabetes registry.

George Washington Universitys Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program in Washington, D.C., has launched an online resource, Health Information and the Law.

Which EHR documentation style best suits the quality of care a physician performs? Research published online May 19 in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association suggested dictated EHR documentation appears to fare worse than structured and free text documentation.

The staff at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) likely dont have easy days at the office. With notices of proposed rulemaking being drafted with great speed relative to traditionally thought-of government timelines, the onslaught of opinions from the public to reconcile should come as no surprise. Last week, the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) offered slightly differing opinions on the ICD-10 implementation process.

To properly evaluate and compare results that will aid in the implementation of the patient centered medical home (PCMH) effort and other initiatives, the Commonwealth Fund recommended a standard set of core measures in a data brief released this month.