Data from Parkland Hospital in Dallas showed the Patients at Risk for Adverse Drug Events screening model helped the hospital avoid more than 2,000 adverse drug events and save $17 million through fewer re-admissions and incidents. The program screens adult patients and then provides real-time data to guide pharmacist interventions.

A year after its implementation, a pilot program launched by WellCare and Kentucky Homeplace aimed at helping rural Kentucky residents with chronic conditions better manage their health resulted in 10% fewer total emergency department visits, 13% fewer non-emergency ED visits, 23% fewer inpatient admissions and 27% fewer hospital inpatient days. Participants gain access to six-week health coaching workshops, utility and food pantry assistance, and transportation assistance through gas vouchers.

A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology looked at the more than 12 million people who died of cardiovascular disease and found that the share of those dying at home rose from 21.1% in 2003 to 30.9% in 2017. The study provides "some good news," said Dr. Albert Wu, professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, as the numbers suggest "more people are having their preferences honored -- and this is progress."

HHS will change how it enforces the Physician Self-Referral Law, or the Stark Law, and will allow exceptions for health care providers in agreements meant to reduce costs and improve patient health, according to Trump administration officials.

The Ohio Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that would require hospitals to provide patients with a reasonable cost estimate or price range for planned hospital services, including their estimated out-of-pocket costs, starting on July 1, 2021. The legislation seeks to prevent unexpected out-of-network bills by requiring hospitals to inform patients if they will be receiving care from an out-of-network provider, but patients would have to ask for the estimates at least seven days ahead of receiving care.

Clinicians at Massachusetts General Hospital are using voice-recognition software to record clinical encounter notes, close to 200 scribes type notes in the exam room as doctors see patients, and now India-based virtual scribes who have medical degrees are also taking notes in real time. "What we're trying to get our doctors back to is face-to-face with their patient, where the technology fades into the background, but then comes forward to support us when we need it," said Dr. David Ting, chief medical information officer of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization.

A virtual command center at Florida's Tampa General Hospital based on artificial intelligence and predictive analytics helped improve efficiency and reduce average length of stay, saving the hospital $10 million in a year, says CEO John Couris. Future steps include integrating remote monitoring and sepsis prevention protocols into the system and expanding it into the hospital's ambulatory, acute care and post-acute care settings.

Research in the Journal of the American Heart Association found patients with diabetes who lost at least 10% of their body weight and maintained at least 75% of the weight loss for four years had improved cardiometabolic risk factors, including cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, blood pressure, waist circumference and diabetes control, when compared with those who regained the weight. "The bottom line is that maintaining the majority of the weight loss is essential to reducing cardiovascular risk," said researcher Alice Lichtenstein.

A study in JAMA Cardiology found that adults who saw their household income drop by over 50% had significantly higher risk of experiencing heart attacks, heart failure and other cardiovascular disease events later in their life compared with those with stable earnings. Meanwhile, adults who experienced a more than 50% income increase had significantly lower cardiovascular disease risk.

Enrollment is now open for the Collaborative Maintenance Pathway (CMP), the new assessment option for cardiologists who wish to maintain their American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) certification. The CMP, announced by ACC and ABIM earlier this year, is designed to be the shortest path between learning and maintaining your credentials. It is delivered through ACCSAP and will allow you to avoid taking the 10-year MOC Exam. To learn more about the CMP, key deadlines and how to purchase ACCSAP, visit ACC.org/CMP.

To address the largely underexplored topic of cardiovascular disease in women, JACC: Case Reports will publish its first special issue on this topic in January 2020. Submissions including clinical cases, clinical case series and Voices in Cardiology will be accepted online through Oct. 31. Submissions addressing the detection and treatment of cardiovascular disease, as well as applications of medical and device therapies in women are of particular interest. Visit JACC.org to learn more and review submission instructions.