The American College of Cardiology released its Expert Consensus Decision Pathway for Tobacco Cessation Treatment to help guide physicians in evaluating and treating tobacco dependence. The report, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, calls on cardiologists to ask every patient about tobacco use at every visit, assess smokers' degree of nicotine addiction, advise tobacco users to quit and offer patients help getting appropriate treatment.

A report from the HHS Office of Inspector General found about 20% of Medicare patients in long-term-care hospitals experienced adverse events and 25% had temporary harmful events. The report found 54% of adverse events and temporary harm events were preventable, with 58% linked to substandard care and 34% linked to medical errors.

A study published in The BMJ showed hospital discharge in the last two weeks of December was associated with an almost 26% risk of patient death or readmission in 30 days, compared with a 24% risk for discharges in January and late November. "Rather than rushing to get patients home, hospital clinicians should pay attention to discharge planning for this vulnerable group, ensuring optimal patient education, drug review, and follow-up care," researchers said.

A project management tool developed by The Institute for Healthcare Improvement can help health care systems change their business model from volume-based to value-based. The tool provides recommendations for quality improvement projects, such as creating a work plan with milestones and a set timeline to keep momentum going.

A study in The BMJ showed that an intervention developed to standardize communication between families and clinicians during rounds led to a 37.9% reduction in harmful errors in the three months after implementation. Researchers analyzed data from pediatric inpatient units at seven US hospitals and found that intervention also resulted in nurses becoming more engaged in patient rounds and families being more likely to share concerns.

Hennepin Healthcare of Minnesota is making concerted use of electronic health records to identify patients at risk of homelessness and thus head off preventable hospital visits. The provider cites social determinants as keys to more effective and economical care and notes that the concept remains controversial.

Telehealth is expanding at regional health systems, which use it in hospital emergency departments and ICUs, and for psychiatric and primary care. Dr. Paul Testa, chief medical information officer at NYU Langone Health, said telehealth is becoming the "new normal" in health care and that technology "will continue to change how we deliver health care, and how patients expect to receive it."

An analysis from the CMS Office of the Actuary showed growth in US health care spending slowed for the second consecutive year in 2017, increasing by 3.9% to $3.5 trillion, compared with 4.8% in 2016 and 5.8% in 2015, amid slower growth in spending for prescription drugs as well as hospital care, physician and clinical services. Spending growth for Medicaid and private health insurance also slowed, while Medicare program spending held steady.

The third-annual Healthcare Operations and Technology Survey from BillingTree shows 63% of health care providers accept web portal payments and more than 25% accept text payments. The biggest issues for providers are a patient's ability to pay, insurance billing and a shortage of payment channels, according to the survey.

The ACC is seeking applications for editors-in-chief of two new, online, open-access JACC Journals launching in 2019: JACC: Case Reports and JACC: CardioOncology. Each editor-in-chief will serve a five-year term, starting in March 2019. Interested individuals should hold a current academic appointment in cardiovascular medicine or cardio-oncology with strong evidence of scholarly pursuits and have demonstrated ability in administration and leadership. Understanding of the open-access publishing model, as well as use and appreciation of possibilities of new media, digital and electronic publication, and social media also are vital. Applications are due by Jan. 15, 2019. Read more about the new journals and how to apply at JACC: Case Reports and JACC: CardioOncology.

The deadline to submit abstracts for the ACC Quality Summit: NCDR and Accreditation Annual Session & Expo has been extended to Wednesday, Jan. 9. Showcase how your institution is optimizing cardiovascular care and outcomes through quality improvement projects, best practices, or new tools and techniques. Submit your experiences as an abstract for consideration as a poster or oral presentation at ACC Quality Summit, March 13 to 15, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, LA. Register now to reserve your spot for ACC Quality Summit.