Morning Headlines 6/25/13

The Impact of Electronic Health Records on Ambulatory Costs Among Medicaid Beneficiaries

A study published in the Medicare and Medicaid Research Review followed the implementation of ambulatory EHRs in three communities, concluding that the adoption of EHRs in community practices does not consistently impact Medicaid costs either positively or negatively.

Vanguard deal would bolster Tenet in key markets

Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. will acquire Vanguard Health Systems in an all-cash $1.8 billion deal. The acquisition also requires that Tenet assume $2.5 billion of Vanguard’s debt, bringing the true price to $4.3 billion. The new health network will include 79 hospitals across 30 markets. The deal also brings ACO expertise to Tenet as the organization prepares to move toward a value-base purchasing reimbursement model.

Disruptions: Medicine That Monitors You

The New York Times covers the rise of ingestible "smart pills" after a recent FDA decision to ease their regulatory requirements. The pills contain sensors that monitor a variety of conditions, powered by electrical current within the human body. They can send an alert to the patient and their physician should they detect an abnormality.

Today at DIA: Deloitte, Intermountain Launch OutcomesMiner Solution

Just four months after embarking on a collaborative big data partnership, Deloitte and Intermountain unveil the first tangible result of their efforts. This week at Drug Information Association’s 2013 Annual Meeting, the organizations unveiled OutcomesMiner, an analytics tool that help researchers evaluate treatment options and predict likely outcomes specific to unique sub-populations.