Data cards containing information about more than 2,200 patients were lost at Mountain View Medical Center, a 178-bed hospital in Mesa, Ariz. In a notice posted on the hospitals website Dec. 10, the hospital reported that the compact memory cards were misplaced from two endoscopy machines, and it became aware of the problem on Oct. 13.

The use of transvaginal ultrasound to measure endometrial thickness may be an effective method of screening for endometrial cancer and atypical endometrial hyperplasia, according to a study published in the December edition of The Lancet.

The Massachusetts Office of Health and Human Services has published payments  from pharmaceutical and medical device companies to physicians and healthcare providers in Massachusetts in an online database, as mandated by a code of conduct state law.

TeraRecon highlighted mobility and flexibility, showcasing Aquarius Mobile and iNstance Launch licensing at the 96th meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) held in Chicago, Nov. 28 to Dec. 2.  

The saying hope for the best and plan for the worst is more than good advice. When hospital servers crash or vital equipment and patient data are underwater, a well-thought-out disaster recovery plan with redundant archiving is crucial to weathering the crisis and getting systems back up and running as quickly as possible. Now a HIPAA requirement, disaster recovery planning enables hospitals to determine their risks and plan for the worst.

Compared with other industries, cloud-based clinical application development has been rather slow. However, as algorithms and computing power ramp up, healthcare providers are finding more choices and expanding capabilities among cloud apps.

Did you know that 10 of the new legislators headed to Capitol Hill next month hail from healthcare backgrounds? And they all ran on the anti-healthcare-reform platform? Even some of the returning senators and representatives who dont want an outright repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act want to trim the bad parts of it. Whats to keep HITECH and other IT-related efforts out of the 112th Congress line of fire?

At the University of Michigan, with allergist Mark Morris, MD, we converted regular clinics for severe asthmatics into a disease management program. Caring for patients went from frustration with the amount of time it took to do all of the processespatients waiting in the lobby for long periods of time, then being routed all over the hospital to get lab work to creating a much more compact, home-like setting that allowed us a lot more time to talk with the patient.