The 2012 American College of Cardiology scientific sessions (ACC.12) will feature a new practice performance, improvement and administration pathway to help practice administrators and other cardiovascular professionals navigate the myriad changes in the practice landscape.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) is hosting two separate webinars in March on the topics of how payment reform will impact practice, and also the new accreditation requirement for cardiovascular imaging labs.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) may have a lower public profile than coronary heart disease (CHD), but like CHD, PAD afflicts women at high rates. And like CHD, PAD left unmanaged contributes to morbidity, mortality and high healthcare costs, according to a scientific statement published online Feb. 15 in Circulation. There was a time when people thought PAD was a disease of men, Alan T. Hirsch, MD, chair of the writing committee that summarized current evidence and challenges of PAD in women, said iin an interview. That myth is busted.

LAS VEGASFor the first time in more than a decade, staffing shortages overtook concerns over lack of adequate financial support as the No. 1 barrier to implementing IT in this years 23rd annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) leadership survey. The results, released Feb. 21 at HIMSS12, include the input of 302 healthcare IT professionals who represent more than 600 U.S. hospitals.

LAS VEGASAs someone co-leading ICD-10 implementation for a huge company, last week was an interesting week, said Rob Alger, vice president, health plan business technology solutions and services, Kaiser Permanente. He was speaking of the announcement that the Department of Health and Human Services will delay the required ICD-10 implementation deadline during the Physician IT Symposium on Feb. 20 at the 2012 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference.

LAS VEGASThe role of the CMIO has grown from a group of self-proclaimed computer geeks of a dozen or so a decade ago to hundreds of health IT leaders motivated by the need for greater data understanding and communication who today lead IT implementation and optimization projects, according to William F. Bria, MD, CMIO of Shriners Hospital for Children in Tampa, Fla., who led a discussion at the Physician IT Symposium on Feb. 21.

LAS VEGASThe change in payment from the government and private payors has already forced thousands of providers to convert to a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model, and providers need to forsake the concept of owning the entire care continuum, said Paul Grundy, MD, MPH, president of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, and director of healthcare transformation at IBM, during a Feb. 20 presentation at the 2012 CIO Forum.

LAS VEGASSpeaking on "The Evolution from Transaction-Oriented to Intelligence-Oriented EHRs," John P. Glaser, PhD, CEO of Siemens Health Services business unit, said we are entering an era of profound change,  during his opening keynote at the Physician IT Symposium on Feb. 20, at the 2012 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference.