This month’s news related to clinical practice centers around physician dissatisfaction and efforts to reduce hospital readmissions.

The numbers don’t lie. Recalls of medical devices in which the problem owes to software woes have been climbing for years. Given the pace at which this category of medical device problem is progressing, how can CTOs and CIOs cope, much less manage? Proceed proactively, say the experts, and enlist the help of your colleagues in IT.

The IT workforce shortage keeps many healthcare IT leaders up at night, not only because of the challenging prospect of finding experienced people to implement and run their systems but also the task of retaining them.

Self-management interventions delivered by computer and mobile phone currently provide limited benefits for people with diabetes, according to a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. Although computer and mobile phone-based self-management programs had small positive effects on blood sugar levels, these effects seemed to be short-lived.

U.S. physicians expressed pessimism about the future of medicine, citing concerns about eroding clinical autonomy and income, and an overall struggle to achieve medical liability reform, in a 2013 survey published March 18 by Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) have established a strategic affiliation to foster joint research and educational programs that improve healthcare delivery.

On day two of three scheduled days of hearings regarding health IT, specifically the growth of medical apps and whether they warrant FDA oversight, the House Committee on Energy & Commerce debated innovation, device tax and more.

Sales for advanced remote patient monitoring jumped nearly 20 percent from $8.9 billion in 2011 to $10.6 billion in 2012, according to market research publisher Kalorama Information in its report, Advanced Patient Monitoring Systems.  This market includes wireless and remote patient monitors, applications and equipment for processing data, and applications and equipment for transferring patient monitoring data into an EHR.