Citing the human and economic toll of central line-associated bloodstream infections$1 billion a year, with a mortality rate as high as 25 percent in the U.S. alonethe Joint Commission has organized a two-phase project to help healthcare providers globally live out the truism that the safest care is often the most cost-effective care.

The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have agreed on the platform for a joint project to create an integrated EHR product both departments are calling iEHR.

18F-FDG PET/CT imaging impacted staging in 40 percent of patients newly diagnosed with esophageal cancer and management in 34 percent of patients, according to a study published online May 11 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. PET/CT may help physicians direct patients to appropriate treatment, which could translate into survival improvements for patients with locally advanced disease.

Lung cancer screening with low-dose CT appears to boost the use of minimally invasive thoracic surgery, underscoring the importance of coupling CT screening programs with a dedicated video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) program, according to an article detailing results from the Danish Lung Cancer Screening Trial published in the June issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.

Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) provided high sensitivity for the detection of atypical, high-risk breast lesions, which could help physicians identify candidates for preventive treatment, according to a study published in the June issue of Academic Radiology.

The FDA has completed its evaluation of a report of a patient who died after the first dose of a multiple sclerosis drug, fingolimod (Gilenya, Novartis), and determined that the drug is now contraindicated in patients with certain pre-existing or recent (within the last six months) heart conditions or stroke, or who are taking certain anti-arrhythmic medications.

In an attempt to keep government accountable for its actions, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made available a web-based tool for the public to monitor and measure how the healthcare system performs.

Last week, I trekked up to Boston to cover the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS). If you were there, or even if you weren't, you can see from our coverage that the conference was stimulating and incited chatter about electrophysiology as well as its new technologies, drugs and methods.