Next Generation accountable care organizations saved Medicare a total of $406 million last year and had an average quality score of 93%. Meanwhile, 517 ACOs are enrolled in the Medicare Shared Savings Program for this year, down from 561 in 2019, 11.2 million Medicare beneficiaries are part of an ACO, and 200 ACOs are taking on downside risk.

An analysis of Medicare claims from 2008 to 2016 did not find the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program increased mortality rates, especially among patients seen in the emergency department or under observation, researchers reported in the British Medical Journal. "This study adds to the evidence that the readmission policy is safe and is not increasing the risk of death by turning away people who need to be re-hospitalized," said senior author Dr. Harlan Krumholz.

Research in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology showed health care-acquired bloodstream infections in pediatric patients have a significant impact on health care costs, length of stay and mortality and are associated with the highest number of preventable deaths among health care-associated infections. Costs for HA-BSIs range from $960 million to $18.2 billion annually, the researchers said.

Yale New Haven Hospital's mandatory cognitive testing for clinicians ages 70 or older seeking renewal of hospital privileges showed almost 1 in 8 had cognitive deficits that could affect their ability to practice independently, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "While older clinicians can bring a great deal of experience and expertise to the practice of medicine, we must be sure that they have the cognitive ability to solve problems and make appropriate judgments," said researcher Dr. Leo Cooney.

A study analyzing physician participation in the Medicare program from 2009 to 2016 found the number of physicians from the largest practices increased from 32.1% to 48.8%, while the number from hospital-owned practices increased from 18.1% to 25.8%, researchers reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Physicians who entered the Medicare program were more likely than those exiting to be part of a large practice compared with a small group practice, or with a hospital-owned practice compared with an independent practice.

Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center in New York has pledged to help every patient, including those in the emergency department, connect with a primary care physician within a week after being discharged. The initiative is aimed at reducing unnecessary emergency department visits and readmissions.

HHS released a draft strategic plan outlining the federal government's goals and objectives through 2025 for ensuring Americans have access to their electronic health information. The plan, developed by Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and more than two dozen other agencies, explains how the government plans to use technology to promote health and wellness, improve care delivery and patient experience, create a secure, data-driven culture to expedite research and innovation, and support development of an interoperable health IT infrastructure.

A study published in JAMA Cardiology that included 43 years of data on 32,833 people ages 5 to 98 found hypertension may start at a younger age in women, compared with men, and increase faster. Women began to show faster increases in blood pressure in their 20s, and the differences were maintained throughout life.

Vital exhaustion may increase the risk of incident atrial fibrillation, researchers reported in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. "It is already known that exhaustion can be harmful for one's mental health, but our findings suggest that it may also adversely affect one's heart health as well," said researcher Dr. Parveen Garg.

In a new Leadership Page published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Richard J. Kovacs, MD, FACC; Jason H. Gilbert, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC; and William J. Oetgen, MD, MBA, FACC, discuss how the opioid crisis is affecting clinicians, hospitals and practices. There is a need for programs to treat infective endocarditis caused by injection drug use, but creating such programs is complicated by the societal stigmatization of addiction, the authors write. In addition, opioid-related claims are a common cause of litigation, and medical practitioners treating these patients often face burnout. "This is an issue that, if addressed now, could not only mean better patient outcomes, but also help to reduce health care costs and improve clinician well-being," they add. Read more.

According to Altmetric scoring, "Chili Pepper Consumption and Mortality in Italian Adults" by Marialaura Bonaccio, PhD, et al., received the most online attention among research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2019. Meanwhile, topics including the associations between recreational cannabis use and cardiac structure and function, a practical guide to prescribing SGLT2 inhibitors, and the association of Celecoxib with dystrophic calcification and aortic valve stenosis were the focus of the most talked about articles published in JACC specialty journals. Articles published in JACC Journals garnered more than 239,000 online media and social media mentions in 2019. See the full list and explore the conversations about top articles for all eight JACC Journals at JACC.org/MostTalkedAbout.