Laura Joszt, MA

Healthcare databases may allow for greater access to real-world medical data, but they can become a risk to patients and healthcare systems if they are not considered carefully, according to a study published in Current Epidemiology Reports.

Researchers found that physicians who trained in a part of the country with higher healthcare expenditures will continue to practice that type of medicine even if they move to a region with lower spending habits.

A new report has validated concerns that CMS readmission penalty models do not factor in socioeconomic and race factors and therefore unfairly penalize hospitals caring for low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable populations.

A majority of breast cancer patients in the US are receiving longer radiation therapy than is necessary and compared with their counterparts in other countries, according to a new study published in JAMA.

As Medicaid enrollment grows under the program's expansion, there are not enough providers to serve the increased amounts of enrollees, according to a new report from the Office of the Inspector General that measured the availability of specific providers in Medicaid managed care networks.

The federal government may have made strides to improve the health insurance exchanges since last year's open enrollment, but a majority of Americans view shopping for health insurance as just as bad as or worse than doing their taxes.

The updated federal health information technology strategic plan is an attempt to collect, share, and use interoperable health information to improve care; enhance individual, community, and public health; and advance research.

The hypothetical risk of illness is enough of a motivating factor for people to take action, according to a study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Financial incentives and the need to share patient information are the top motivations for physicians adopting electronic health records, according to a data brief from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Optimal use of pharmaceuticals is often overlooked for accountable care organizations (ACOs), but ensuring proper medication use, efficacy, and safety is critical to an ACO's success.

Health information exchange (HIE) use is increasing in the US, but other than reducing emergency department usage and costs, little else is known about the effect of HIEs on other outcomes, according to a new study from RAND.

The 3.6% increase in US healthcare spending in 2013 marks the lowest growth in healthcare spending since 1960, according to a report from CMS published in Health Affairs.

Patients on exchange plans are more likely to see higher out-of-pocket costs for their specialty drugs in 2015 compared with 2014, according to a new analysis from Avalere Health.

Although there are no current cases of Ebola in the United States, an increased number of hospitals are now equipped to treat patients with the virus while minimizing risk to healthcare workers.

Employers and employees are seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to integrated health benefits. Not only do employees see how an integrated plan can improve quality of care and health, but employers see how it makes good business sense.

Efforts to improve patient safety in hospitals are paying off: there were 1.3 million fewer adverse events harming patients in 2011, 2012, and 2013, according to a new report from HHS.

Among the dozen revisions to the Medicare Shared Savings Program being considered includes one that could bring some relief to accountable care organizations facing penalties for poor performance.

Despite a drop in the uninsured rate stemming from the Affordable Care Act, more Americans are putting off medical treatment because of the cost of healthcare, according to the results of an annual Gallup survey.

More than 1 million Americans applied for coverage through the federal Marketplace during the first week of open enrollment, HHS reported in the first of its weekly data snapshots.

Attempts to contain emerging global health threats, like the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, are hampered by barriers to sharing public health data, according to an international team of researchers.

Medical technology hazards remain a top safety issue for hospitals and can come in many forms. However, for the fourth year in a row, alarm hazards topped the annual Top 10 Health Technology Hazards list from the ECRI Institute.

Physicians who receive higher reimbursements for routine office visits are more likely to perform cancer screening tests on Medicaid beneficiaries, according to a new study in Cancer.

Few employers are planning to eliminate their health benefits in 2015, but they are still looking to make noticeable changes, according to a report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The deadline for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals to attest to meeting meaningful use requirements has been pushed back a full month, according to CMS.

In the first 2 years of the Affordable Care Act, open enrollment has run for 2 different time periods, and HHS is looking to set a fixed date for future years. Plus, it offers a solution to automatic re-enrollment.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have used electronic health record analysis to uncover hidden drug benefits, according to a study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Republicans finally filed a lawsuit against President Obama's healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, after approving the suit in July. They are challenging the employer-based coverage aspect of the law, as well as Treasury payments to insurers.

Clinicians are showing increased openness toward using digital technology and are becoming more comfortable with trusting tools like at-home test results, according to a new report from PwC's Health Research Institute.

An examination of nearly 200 medication adherence trials found that it is actually difficult to determine whether or not the approaches truly worked.

In an effort to foster greater transparency of healthcare costs, the government and private sector entities are offering tools that provide cost and quality information to consumers. But just how effective are these tools?