Researchers have found the introduction of call handling software and mobile technology over a medical-grade wireless network improved staff satisfaction and improvements in efficiency and information flow have been accompanied by a reduction in untoward incidents, length of stay and peri-arrest calls.

Human error remains the greatest threat to data security across the healthcare industry, according to an April report from Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Analytics.

Low-risk patients presenting with chest pain at an emergency department were less likely to undergo stress testing if they used a tool designed to elucidate their risk of a heart attack and engage them in decision making, according to a study published online April 10 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. No patients in the randomized evaluation experienced a major adverse cardiac event after discharge, suggesting the decision aid may help reduce unnecessary testing without compromising care.

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is collaborating with other industry and government entities to support the healthcare industrys upgrade to ASC X12 5010. This support will take the form of a multi-tiered campaign to gather feedback, track challenges, identify and provide guidance to correcting ASC X12 5010 implementation-related issues, especially among commercial payors.

Cardinal Health, a healthcare services company, has appointed Donald M. Casey Jr. to lead its $9 billion medical products and services business, effective April 16.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced a proposed rule that would establish a unique health plan identifier under HIPAA. The proposed rule also delays required compliance by one yearfrom Oct. 1, 2013, to Oct. 1, 2014for new codes used to classify diseases and health problems.

Researchers from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) proposed a data-driven approach to utilize confidence intervals (CIs) to select the most appropriate model from a pool of candidates to assess the individual patient's clinical condition, in hopes of improving personalized risk estimation for clinical decision support.

The Utah Department of Technology Services (DTS) notified the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) of an information breach on a DTS server that houses Medicaid claims this week. The initial breach appears to have taken place on Friday, March 30. During the breach, information was accessed from approximately 24,000 claims.