Best practices and evidence-based care are becoming increasingly important for hospitals as they work to improve quality and reduce costs. Basing clinical care and financial decisions on data will be crucial for hospitals to ensure they meet goals in every patient care area, from the emergency room to the operating room to various service lines. Data collection and analysis can help hospitals improve the value of their orthopedic service line, for example. Ryan Wells, CEO of InVivoLink, a clinically integrated business intelligence company, shares tips for leveraging data to increase efficiency and quality.

At the 10th Annual Orthopedic, Spine and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference in Chicago on June 14, R. Blake Curd, MD, board chairman of Surgical Management Professionals, discussed key business issues for hand surgery in ASCs.

The Valley Orthopaedic Specialists clinic, part of Yakima (Wash.) Valley Memorial Hospital, will close its doors Sept. 30, according to a Yakima Herald-Republic report.

Seventy-six percent of small- and medium-sized medical and dental offices intend to purchase tablets in the next 12 months, according to a DOTmed report.

In the past year, more than half of healthcare organizations have designated more funds in their IT budget to information security, according to the 2011 HIMSS Security Survey (pdf).

Despite the bipartisan support for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records Meaningful Use Incentive Program, the Budget Control Act of 2011 may cause reductions to the program if the Joint Committee's cost cutting proposal isn't up to snuff, according to a Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society fact sheet (pdf).