News From Around the Web
> An altered version of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs electronic health record platform is set to be deployed at National Health Service trusts in the United Kingdom, eHealth Insider reports. According to Mark Meudt, vice president of communications for General Dynamics IT, which helped develop the U.K.-specific version of VistA, the system is "substantially different" from the VA's version. Article
> The Alabama Department of Public Health is reaching out to roughly 1,200 individuals whose personal information was compromised after being stolen and who could be victims in a $20 million tax fraud ring, HealthcareInfoSecurity reports. Article
> A pediatrics professor at Saint Louis University has received a $541,807 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to help develop a video game that will train doctors on pediatric emergency room cases, the school announced this week. The professor, James Gerard, M.D., will work with a Baltimore-based gaming company on the game. Announcement
Provider News
> A new consortium of 200 hospitals, nursing homes and other health-related entities throughout the Rochester, New York, region aims to redesign healthcare delivery and reduce avoidable readmissions. The Finger Lakes Performing Provider System is led by the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester General Health System and Unity Health System. The group intends to reduce avoidable hospital admissions by 25 percent over the next five years by keeping the region's 320,000 Medicaid recipients healthier. Article
Health Finance News
> While for-profit hospital chains fight reimbursement cuts tied to the Affordable Care Act and high levels of uncompensated care in states that do not expand Medicaid eligibility, delivery of care at a less complex level could wind up being their salvation. Article
And Finally... What is this, the 19th century? Article