It was almost too good to be true, but the results showed that it really worked. When Chicago's Mount Sinai Hospital embarked on reducing readmissions with the Project Re-Engineered Discharge model, otherwise known as Project RED, program leaders couldn't believe it lowered readmissions from 34 (from July 2010 to January 2011) to only 5 (from February 2011 to July 2011). Even better, it didn't require new staff or additional dollars, Leslie Zun, chair and professor of the emergency department, said at Friday's World Congress 3rd Annual Leadership Summit on Hospital Readmissions in Falls Church, Va. more»

With providers across the country experimenting with transitional care improvements, many models that are spearheading the movement share some common interventions, said Cheri Lattimer, executive director for the non-profit National Transitions of Care Coalition, in a keynote address at Friday's World Congress 3rd Annual Leadership Summit on Hospital Readmissions. more»

With soaring health care costs and the consequent additional burden on state finances, analysts say governments of countries within the Gulf Cooperation Council must actively encourage private-sector investment to relieve excessive dependence on public finances, improve the quality of treatment, and promote competition within the medical sector. more»

The U.S. health care system faces a time of dramatic change as health care reform legislation extends coverage to an estimated 32 million Americans by 2104. As a result of this large-scale expansion, predictive models have become increasingly important in helping health plans develop long-term strategies To explore the modes and uses of predictive modeling, medical management executives, health economists, actuaries and underwriters will convene for the World Congress 3rd Annual Predictive Modeling Congress for Health Plans Jan 30 – 31, 2012 in Orlando, Fl. more»

The prevalence of asthma, a respiratory disease indicated by repeated episodes of coughing and wheezing, is expected to rise across the UAE, a senior medical expert said in Abu Dhabi yesterday. more»

Wellness plans that encourage workers to live healthier, medical procedure price transparency and value-based models are among the moves that could help control the country's health care costs, the boss of one of California's largest insurers said in a talk Tuesday. more»