In a move to help address the impending U.S. transition to ICD-10, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American College of Medical Coding Specialists (ACMCS) have joined forces to present a two-day Clinical Coding Meeting, Oct. 1-2 in Salt Lake City, preceding the 2011 AHIMA Convention & Exhibit which runs through Oct. 6, also at the Salt Lake City Convention Center.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) will launch its accountable care organization (ACO) accreditation program this fall.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials recently learned that a staff member at the Lexington VA Medical Center, without authorization, took home patient files, slides, images and data on a laptop computer.

AFrame Digital has been awarded a follow-on grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Aging for further research in fall reductions using its mobile care monitor platform, a wristwatch-like device that communicates a users motion and location data to cloud-based monitoring and alerting resources.

A two-hour delay in operating room availability for urgent cases increases costs to the hospital by 39 percent, according to a study published in the August issue of Surgery. The authors found the longer gap times and higher costs occurred during peak business hours, and suggested that strategies to maximize daytime OR use with elective surgeries at the expense of urgent cases ultimately result in inefficient care.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), coordinator of the U.S. voluntary standardization system, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) as the approved accreditor for the Permanent Certification Program for Health IT.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is seeking comment on its Federal Health IT Strategic Plan to reduce health IT disparities.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has awarded up to $137 million, partly supported by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), to states to strengthen the public health infrastructure and provide jobs in core areas of public health.