Healthcare providers looking to engage patients will find a key enabling—and potentially disruptive—tool in their back pockets: the smartphone.  Writing in the Saturday edition of the Wall Street Journal, cardiologist Eric Topol, MD, reviews a growing portfolio of powerful new applications and devices that can diagnose an ear infection, monitor mental health, track heart rhythms and even generate x-rays.

A breach at an Alabama hospital that resulted in a two-year jail term for a hospital employee suggests that insider threats to patient data security may be greater challenge than many providers understand.

One of the topics weighing heavily on the minds of those providers who perused all the new CT imaging equipment on display at RSNA 2014 was the new legislation dedicated to medical imaging as it relates to making provisions to more strictly control CT dosage requirements under NEMA Standard XR-29-2013.

BLUFFTON, SC AND FRANKLIN, TN – December 4, 2014 – CareCore National, LLC ("CareCore") and MedSolutions, Inc. ("MedSolutions"), two leading providers of Specialty Benefits Management (SBM) services to managed care organizations and risk-bearing provider organizations, today announced the completion of a merger that will help advance the companies‘ collective commitment to containing healthcare costs and achieving quality medical outcomes.

The Wall Street Journal released sobering analysis of basic spending by the American middle class this week based on consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report puts into stark relief the rising role of consumerism in healthcare delivery: Healthcare spending was up 24% and income rose a mere half percentage point.

RamSoft PowerServer 6.0 has achieved ONC HIT 2014 Edition complete EHR certification, which designates that the software is capable of supporting eligible providers with meeting the Stage 1 and Stage 2 Meaningful Use measures required to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  PowerServer 6.0 was certified on October 10, 2014 by ICSA Labs, an Office of the National Coordinator-Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB) and is compliant in accordance with applicable criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — (October 21, 2014) vRad (Virtual Radiologic), the nation‟s largest telemedicine company and radiology practice with over 500 physicians, now offers clients the GPISM (Global Practice Information) Report, a one-stop, automated, monthly analytics solution providing a 24x7 look inside their radiology practice, including consolidated summary and facility-level onsite and teleradiology metrics for effective overall practice management.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESSWIRE)--PenRad Technologies, Inc, the market leader in Mammography Information Systems (MIS), today announced its partnership with Clinithink to refine the process of clinical documentation for radiologists in real-time. PenRad is embedding Clinithink's CNLP (Clinical Natural Language Processing) platform into its MIS solution to increase productivity, accuracy and efficiency of the mammography reporting workflow for its existing install base.