While appropriate use criteria (AUC) have been integrated in interventional cardiology for the past few years, many physicians have expressed concerns that the terminology fails to accommodate nuanced physician judgment. Tony Farah, MD, chief medical officer at West Penn Allegheny Health System in Pittsburgh, sought to contextualize the AUC among other decision-making processes for Cardiovascular Business.

The Western District of Pennsylvania has recovered more than $1.98 million as part of a settlement in the Excela Health and Westmoreland Regional Hospital case, according to U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a final order restoring competition for adult cardiology services in Reno, Nev.

We all know the frustrations of unsolicited outreach efforts, whether it is pre-election telephone calls, sales-pitch text messages appearing in our cellphones or spam emails. In a busy medical office, the clank-clank-churn of unwanted faxed missives filling the holding tray may be another annoyance; at least, it appears to be the case for the St. Louis Heart Center in Missouri.

St. Louis Heart Center in Missouri, “on behalf of itself and all others similarly situated,” has filed a lawsuit against Forest Pharmaceuticals over its practice of sending unsolicited faxes.

Patients who are offered disclosure, explanations, apologies and monetary compensation for medical errors may be more likely to accept lower rather than maximum compensation, apparently due to distrust of the motives behind a full compensation offer.

The hospital readmission reduction program unfairly penalizes large hospitals and hospitals that serve a large proportion of Medicaid patients, according to the author of a letter in the Nov. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Baptist Health South Florida has become the first hospital system in the U.S. to achieve ACE accreditation, the seven-hospital system announced.