Morning Headlines 2/24/15

Strengthening Patient Care: Building an Effective National Medical Device Surveillance System

The FDA publishes a report outlining its $250 million plan to roll out a national medical device surveillance system over the next seven-years.

Epic vs. Cerner Competition Heats Up

A KLAS report on acute EHR purchasing decisions asks hospitals that are in the market for a new system who their likely next vendor will be: 25 percent reported Epic, 14 percent reported Cerner, 13 percent reported MEDITECH, and 5 percent reported McKesson, while 41 percent are undecided.

Mobile app with evidence-based decision support diagnoses more obesity, smoking, and depression, Columbia Nursing study finds

A Columbia University study published in the Journal of Nurse Practitioners finds that diagnosis rates for obesity, smoking, and depression were much higher when nurses used a smartphone app that explained evidence-based guidelines and triggered clinical decision support prompts during routine exams.

Kaiser tests video visits to cut waits

Kaiser Permanente experiments with telehealth visits as a possible way of reducing ED utilization and wait times.