The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) today announced the online publication of the organization’s comprehensive diabetes management algorithm consensus statement.

The federal government has decided to join in the fray in a cardiologist’s whistleblower case that alleges kickbacks for unnecessary nuclear imaging tests.

A novel system designed to reduce radiation exposure to operators during cardiac catheterizations resulted in exposure levels barely above zero, according to a first-in-man report published July 1 in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions. The technology may help raise safety standards, editorialists proposed.

The finding that 30-day mortality rates for acute MI, heart failure and pneumonia predict overall quality, at least in terms of mortality, may come as a relief. Or it may mean grief for some hospitals.

Hospitals with low 30-day mortality rates for three publicly reported conditions are more likely to be top performers for overall mortality. Rates for acute MI, heart failure and pneumonia also proved to be better predictors than traditional markers of performance, according to results published online June 24 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The use of laughing gas during noncardiac surgery did not increase the perioperative risk of cardiac injury in patients with or at risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). The results, published in the July issue of Anesthesiology, held up even in patients with a genetic variant that was thought to make them vulnerable.

The Ellsworth Medical Clinic in rural Wisconsin used its EHR to monitor patients with hypertension. It has seen a 30 percent improvement in hypertension control since 2007. The Million Hearts Initiative, which calls the clinic a model for small practices, featured it in a video.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is stepping away from the role of producer of cardiovascular disease-related clinical practice guidelines to that of supplier. The institute announced June 19 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that it planned to provide reviews that others could use to create “guideline products.”