Morning Headlines 10/5/15

Mercy debuts new $54 million virtual care center

Mercy Health goes live with its $54 million telehealth command center, where 290 clinicians are monitoring 2,400 beds spread across 33 hospitals, providing a wide range of services including telestroke, teleICU, and remote specialist consultations.

UT Southwestern, Texas Health Resources form huge health care network

Texas Health Resources and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center agree to merge EHRs and coordinate patient care across 27 hospitals throughout North Texas.

Quarter of doctors’ appointments wasted – report

A study in the UK finds that 27 percent of primary care visits could have been avoided with better use of technology and care coordination. The report found that PCPs spent the time equivalent of 15 million appointments rearranging hospital schedules and chasing test results.