Dr. Karen DeSalvo recently announced her departure from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to assist in the federal government's Ebola response efforts, but will continue to be involved in federal health information technology efforts as well. 

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) recently announced a partnership with KLAS Enterprises, a research firm, to accelerate and enhance industry performance and support all stakeholders in healthcare transformation.

Radiology business managers help practices thrive in our challenging health care climate. They possess a level of sophisticated business experience sought out by radiologists who are being forced to take time away from patient care to attend to the business responsibilities of the practice. However, a business manager who steps in to handle these duties and alleviate the pressure on physicians still needs to approach them to obtain buy-in on various major practice decisions. The larger the practice, the more daunting this task can appear. David Myrice, director of practice management for Zotec Partners, walks us through the important steps in obtaining radiologist buy-in on important practice decisions.

Another key member of the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC) has resigned. Judy Murphy, chief nursing officer (CNO) and director of the Office of Clinical Quality and Safety (OCQS), is leaving ONC and will join IBM Healthcare Global Business Services in the role of chief nursing officer. Her last day will be Oct. 17.

MILWAUKEE, Wis., Oct. 1, 2014 — Integrated Medical Partners (IMP), a full-service provider of profit-improvement solutions for medical practices announced today the addition of Mr. Keith E. Chew, MHA, CMPE as Managing Director, Strategic Positioning and Consulting Services. Mr. Chew will also have the same title with Integrated Radiology Partners (IRP), the IMP solution for Radiology Practices.

Radiology’s new normal is an ongoing perfect storm of business pressures. Faced with the constant need to navigate swim-or-sink waters roiled by bundled payments, pay for performance and other models of financial risk-sharing—not to mention declining reimbursement, increased regulatory oversight and transparency on pricing and quality—forward-thinking practices are partnering with their competitors in new joint venture (JV) models.

Traditionally, advances in healthcare are built upon a formalized architecture of research and the application of the scientific method into healthcare decision making for the benefit of optimal care for a single patient or for populations of patients. The importance of data has continued to manifest itself in other areas of healthcare and influence behaviors with respect to information systems and technology as they relate to healthcare. Historically influential in business, data has become increasingly important to healthcare providers as a predictor and an analysis tool for their own businesses. But as radiologists struggle to maintain their independence and demonstrate their value in the healthcare process, no method proves to be stronger than listening to the experiences of peers, those experiencing success, and those experiencing difficult challenges as well, in order to build the strategies that radiologists will apply to their own businesses as a means to sustaining long-term success.

Cerner Corporation has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Siemens Health Services, the health information technology business unit of Siemens AG, for $1.3 billion in cash.