Morning Headlines 2/18/14

The Reliability of Teledermatology to Triage Inpatient Dermatology Consultations

A study published in JAMA finds that practice-based dermatologists can effectively provide dermatology consults for inpatients at local hospitals via a remote connection. The study found that remote dermatologists concurred with in person dermatologists 95 percent of the time when recommending a biopsy. The study also found that remote dermatologists were generally the more conservative of the two groups when differences in opinion surfaced.

Medical Device Reporting: Electronic Submission Requirements

The FDA posts a final rule to the Federal Register stating that all adverse events stemming from medical devices are to be reported in an electronic format moving forward rather than on paper.

Seven Leading Health Organizations Join Optum Labs Research Collaborative

Optum Labs, a big-data healthcare collaborative created by UnitedHealth Group and the Mayo Clinic, adds seven new partners to its program including: Tufts Medical Center, Boston University School of Public Health, and Pfizer Inc. The mission of the group is to uncover insights that result in improved outcomes and reduced costs.

HIMSS Analytics Honors 51 Clinics of Northeast Georgia Physicians Group with Stage 7 Ambulatory Awards

HIMSS recognizes 51 clinics within the Northeast Georgia Physicians Group with its Stage 7 Ambulatory Award. The clinics integrate with the Northeast Georgia Health System on a multi-vendor platform and perform data analytics that provides population health analytics, predictive alerting, and identifies care gaps to be addressed during each encounter.