Colo. Governor commends county's plan to address suicides

Eagle County leaders are collaborating to improve behavioral health services in the area, including a $60 million commitment over 10 years from Vail Health.  »

Bathing patients with an antiseptic reduces bloodstream infections

Nashville-based hospital chain HCA found that using the antiseptic soap chlorhexidine on patients with central lines and lumbar drains greatly reduced the risk for infection.

Visiting malnourished patients at home to speed recovery, reduce readmissions

New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C., recently hired a dietitian to visit malnourished patients at their homes to address the barriers they face to eating healthy.

Sutter Health's online symptom checker aims to provide care at the right time, place

Sutter Health is teaming up with Ada Health to offer its patients a symptom checker tool designed to help them decide whether they need to get care and where. It's one of several partnerships between health systems and companies offering such tools.

NQF, Aetna join forces to tackle social determinants

The National Quality Forum and the Aetna Foundation's initiative will identify best practices that address social determinants of health and reduce health disparities over the next nine months.

Novartis donates data in effort to jump-start antibiotic development

Pew Charitable Trusts is adding data from drugmaker Novartis' now-defunct antibiotics research programs to its open source information-sharing platform in an effort to jump-start development of products to combat antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.

Congress eyes intervention in U.S. organ sharing policy

The incoming Congress may bring lawmakers into the fraught but relatively under-the-radar debate over how the U.S. should distribute organs.

Health insurers look to digital tools to improve customer experience

Health insurers say investing in digital tools and other technologies can help them improve the customer experience by giving plan members a personalized, frictionless healthcare experience.

Project Japan providers are teaming with chatbots to assist patients

Chatbots are gaining traction in healthcare, helping connect patients to providers and payers on an efficient, cost-effective medium: mobile devices and computers.

New CMS star ratings ignore socio-economic factors

The CMS didn't risk-stratify hospitals by peer groups based on their dual-eligible population as it currently does in the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. That can earn hospitals low ratings for caring for poor and chronically ill patients.