Coordinated care has been heralded as the direct path to better and more cost-effective care, and financial rewards and penalties under the 2010 federal healthcare law are further driving care coordination. But, experts say communication failures that lead to inappropriate care are very common.

CareMore, through its unique approach to caring for the elderly, is routinely achieving patient outcomes that other providers can only dream about: a hospitalization rate 24 percent below average; hospital stays 38 percent shorter; an amputation rate among diabetics 60 percent lower than average--all without increased total cost. CareMore’s interventions save money in the long run by preventing vastly more costly downstream outcomes such as hospitalizations and surgeries. As a result, CareMore’s overall member costs are actually 18 percent below the industry average.

New Brunswick, N.J., April 24 -- Children’s Specialized Hospital, the nation’s largest provider of the rehabilitation services for children with special needs, announced today that it has launched GetWell Town™, a new interactive patient care (IPC) system developed by GetWellNetwork®. Deployed at all 60-beds in the hospital’s New Brunswick location, PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital, the system is the first and only IPC system specifically developed for pediatric patients and their families. The technology installation was made possible by longstanding hospital supporter L’Oréal USA.

One in five Medicare patients return to the hospital within a month after discharge, so it isn’t surprising that the federal government is pushing forward an agenda to discourage costly readmissions. This upcoming October, hospitals with chronic readmission problems with patients struggling with heart failure, pneumonia and heart attack will face Medicare reimbursement penalties.

CHICAGO, April 23, 2013 -- Allscripts took another key step in delivering an Open, Connected Community of Health™ with the release of Allscripts Care Director™. The new solution coordinates outpatient care across healthcare settings. With the industry shift toward value-based care, Allscripts Care Director will help healthcare organizations more effectively manage patient care post hospital discharge and importantly, better address preventable readmissions, a key requirement now that hospitals could be subject to penalties for excess readmissions under Medicare.

An Elsevier news brief is stressing the need for a business case for evidence-based medicine (EBM) to improve the U.S. healthcare system. The brief culminated from a roundtable discussion of healthcare industry thought leaders at the CMIO Leadership Forum in Chicago last fall.

Albany, NY, April 28, 2013 -- GBI Research, leading business intelligence provider has released its latest report, Cloud Computing in Pharmaceutical Research and Development Virtualization of Data through the Cloud Optimizes Next-Generation DNA Sequencing and Clinical Trials Data Management, which provides insights into the key applications of cloud computing in the research, development and sales effectiveness within the pharmaceutical industry. The report provides an understanding of technological concepts in cloud computing, including cloud computing service models, deployment models and key stakeholders. Information on the major players in the cloud computing space is followed by an overall assessment of the technology in terms of benefits and restraints.

Derrick Suehs, chief quality officer of Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., discusses the difference between good and great patient care. "I've begun to realize the difference between good and great comes down to passion and purpose. I suspect many people will dismiss this conclusion as overly simplistic, but I disagree," Suehs writes in an editorial published by Hospital Impact.