June 10, 2014, Boston, Massachusetts – Press Ganey today announced the acquisition of the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI®), the leading quality improvement and nurse engagement tool developed by the American Nurses Association (ANA) and managed by The University of Kansas School of Nursing. The acquisition strengthens Press Ganey’s ability to empower nurses and nursing leaders in their mission to reduce patient suffering and improve the patient experience.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--For the second year in a row, Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) was ranked as the number one company for its ease of doing business with providers. Humana ranked number one in overall performance among 148 U.S. health insurers based on a review of 2013 claims-payment data conducted by athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN).

NEW YORK--MedCPU, Inc., a leader in enterprise clinical decision support solutions, announced today the close of a $9.3 Million Series B funding round that will provide the company with capital to maximize its growth opportunities in the expanding market for clinical decision support solutions for healthcare providers. Investors in the B round of financing include Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Easton Capital Investment Group and New Richmond Ventures.

CHICAGO--FIGMD, Inc. is excited to announce the launch of its Clinical Data Registry Platform on Google Glass. A first in the health care quality measurement space, FIGMD’s innovative approach enables Doctors and other health care providers across the country to leverage the power data at the point of care.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.-- As part of its continued efforts to strengthen and expand its service capabilities across the healthcare continuum, Quintiles today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Encore Health Resources (Encore). Encore is a leader in the health-information analytics and technology services industry focused on healthcare providers. Through its consulting services and solutions, Encore assists customers with a wide range of strategy, advisory, implementation, process-redesign, optimization, analytics and performance-improvement initiatives.

A “lean” system improvement analysis conducted by interventional radiologists at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine in Chapel Hill was able to help streamline workflow and cut technologist and nurse overtime hours by 20 percent and 57 percent, respectively.

Hospital operators feeling the pinch from reduced inpatient volumes due to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ new regulations to better define when a short-term stay should count as an inpatient stay are certainly not alone. According to financial analysts at the prestigious Moody's Investors Service,  the new inpatient billing rule referred to as the “two-midnight rule” will put financial pressure on hospitals for some time to come.

In a continuing Health Affairs series, Catalyst for Payment Reform Executive Director Suzanne Delbanco digs into the evidence for Pay-for-Performance (often called P4P) as a payment system that may potentially reduce overall health care costs.According to Delbanco, pay-for-performance may indeed be useful in shifting providers toward new payment systems because it only has an upside. You get a bonus if you improve certain quality measures and you earn the same if you don't.However, she warns that the lack of financial risk in P4P may limit its usefulness. Research also has not shown that it can lower costs, a key purpose of new payment systems. Finally, it may encourage physicians to focus on a narrow band of measurable quality measures to the detriment of the overall quality of the care the patient receives.Delbanco theorizes that the true value of P4P may be as a stepping stone to shared-risk arrangements with payors.