Clinical

CloudMedx, a big data health analytics company, has acquired Gyrus Labs to extend its CloudMedx Analytics Platform, which is designed to help improve patient care through data insights.

Truven Health Analytics prides itself on, well, analyzing data. So when it came to picking this year’s top 15 hospitals, Truven analysts turned to crunching numbers. The winning health systems are those who showed higher survival rates and fewer errors at a lower overall treatment cost than any of the other health systems across the country. Overall mortality rates were 14.7 percent lower than non-winning peer group hospitals Complication rates were 15.1 percent lower ED wait times were 12.3 percent lower. The 15 health systems also lowered cost per episode by 5 percent, discharged patients from the hospital a half-day sooner than non-winners. Moreover, they showed y percent higher Patient Satisfaction Scores compared with the non-winning hospitals. The 2016 edition of 15 Top Health Systems evaluated 338 health systems and 2,912 member hospitals to identify the systems with the highest overall achievement on a balanced scorecard. Here are the winners: Large Health Systems (operating expense of more than $1.75 billion) Mayo Foundation – Rochester, Minn. Mercy – Chesterfield, Missouri Spectrum Health – Grand Rapids, Michigan Sutter Health – Sacramento, California Sutter Health Valley Division – Sacramento, California Medium Health Systems (operating expense between $750 million and $1.75 billion) Kettering Health Network – Dayton, Ohio Scripps Health – San Diego, California St. Luke's Health System – Boise, Idaho St. Vincent Health – Indianapolis TriHealth – Cincinnati, Ohio Small Health Systems (operating expense of less than $750 million) Asante – Medford, Oregon Lovelace Health System – Albuquerque, New Mexico MidMichigan Health – Midland, Michigan

Officials uncovered 'significant risks' and irregularities during rollout, raising concerns about a viable final product, a spokesperson says.

Intermountain Healthcare and the Stanford Genome Technology Center will work together on research aimed at developing advances in precision health.

Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing have shown that computers can screen pathology reports, saving time and money.

The Act to Prevent Opiate Abuse by Strengthening the Controlled Substance Prescription Monitoring Program also sets a cap on number of days for opioid prescriptions and requires doctors to undergo addiction treatment every two years.

New York's Mount Sinai Health System is joining other high-profile health systems across the nation in embracing OpenNotes, an initiative that gives patients access to their care provider's notes in their medical records. The notes are available for the first time in the health system's online electronic health record portal, called MyMountSinaiChart. Users can now read details of their office visit from the convenience of their personal computer, tablet or smartphone. MyMountSinaiChart, launched in 2012, also enables patients to communicate with their doctor, access test results, request prescription refills and manage appointments. The goal of OpenNotes is to improve transparency, communication and trust between patients and physicians – and it's working, Mount Sinai officials say. [Also: OpenNotes: 'This is not a software package, this is a movement'] "When patients can access their physicians' notes, they can better understand their medical issues and treatment plan as active partners in their care," said Sandra Myerson, chief patient experience officer at the Joseph F. Cullman, Jr. Institute for Patient Experience at Mount Sinai. "This can ultimately lead to improved patient engagement, patient empowerment, and communication between patient and physician." "Patients expect and deserve to have full access to their medical records and the Mount Sinai Health System is committed to meeting this expectation," Jeremy Boal, MD, chief medical officer at Mount Sinai Health Systems, said in a statement. Four Mount Sinai physicians in various clinical practices conducted the initial OpenNotes pilot beginning in December 2015. Twitter: @Bernie_HITN Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Theranos, the embattled blood testing startup, is now under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, according to Bloomberg. The investigation is the latest in a series of hardships for the once-vaunted company, coming on the heels of a recommendation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that founder Elizabeth Holmes be banned from the blood testing business for a two-year period. In March, a study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that cholesterol test results obtained through Theranos – which are drawn from small finger pricks – were much different than those from large laboratory companies, implying that doctors' medical decisions could be thrown off by results acquired through Theranos technology. [Also: Theranos results differed from Quest, LabCorp enough to impact care decisions, study finds] In all, Theranos' results for total cholesterol were found to be an average 9.3 percent lower than those obtained through clinical laboratories Quest and LabCorp, according to the March study. This has lead researchers to surmise that in some instances, doctors may inappropriately begin, or fail to begin, statin therapy, a drug-based regimen that aims to prevent heart disease. The investigation by the SEC, which ensures companies give accurate information to investors, was one of several described in a memo from Theranos (once valued at $9 billion) obtained by Bloomberg. The memo was originally furnished to Theranos' partners including Walgreen's, which has reportedly been looking to cut ties with the startup. "The company continues to work closely with regulators and is cooperating fully with all investigations," Theranos officials said. Before the federal investigations were announced Monday, Holmes appeared on NBC's Today show to say she was "devastated" that her lab did not discover its deficiencies. Holmes also said Theranos would rebuild its lab from scratch to avoid future problems. In addition to suggesting that Holmes be temporarily banned from the industry, CMS has proposed a number of other sanctions, including revocation of Theranos' Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 certificate – or, alternatively, a civil monetary penalty of $10,000 per day for each day of non-compliance. Theranos could delay the effective date of the sanctions by filing an appeal. Twitter: @JELagasse Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Healthcare analytics company Decision Resources Group is growing its healthcare data trove in a big way, adding claims and electronic health record data for its new Real World Evidence repository, or RWE. DRG touts the fact that RWE, meant to offering its clients better patient insights and help them do longitudinal analytics, covers 90 percent of the U.S. healthcare system The company did not release the cost of the data acquired. Brigham Hyde, senior vice president of analytics and chief data officer at DRG, said the amount of data it now has available for licensing to its clients – all of it de-identified – far surpasses that offered by Truven and other data companies. "We have four times as many patients as Truven has and six times as many claims, and we have EHR detail," Hyde said. IBM announced February 18 it would purchase analytics company Truven, adding a massive repository of data to its Watson Health Cloud. [Also: IBM Watson buying Truven Health Analytics for $2.6 billion] DRG is expanding its expertise to offer its clients more complete and dynamic analyses in the following areas: health economics and outcomes research, epidemiology validation, patient-level forecasting and market sizing, patient-level compliance and real-time network influence. The RWE data asset comes from multiple data providers in the U.S. and includes patient, healthcare professional and payer-level analysis. "As healthcare continues its shift from volume to value, DRG's RWE repository enables academic grade analysis of the cost centers of healthcare in the U.S., as well as the behaviors and outcomes of treatment and coverage decisions," Hyde said. The repository covers 240 million unique U.S. patients with more than five years of historical data, and has 3.2 billion medical and pharmacy claims, enabling closer analysis of cost and outcomes data, according to DRG. Hyde said DRG would leverage its nearly 400 analysts worldwide to provide customers with disease specific insights. For example, the repository has strong coverage of Type 2 diabetes, along with payment details, lab values and clinical progress of patients. DRG also is using the RWE repository to make available custom and interactive analytic dashboards and analytics to enable clients to answer important business questions quickly. In a separate announcement today, DRG said the board of directors appointed Jonathan Sandler CEO. Sandler also serves as DRG chairman of the board.

Big screens in every hospital unit show quality and safety indicators for doctors, nurses, patients and family members. Children’s has reduced urinary tract infections while improving medication safety and time to treatment.