Relationship Between Medicare’s Hospital Compare Performance Measures and Mortality Rates
Across all acute myocardial infarction performance measures, the absolute reduction in risk-adjusted mortality rates between hospitals performing in the 25th percentile vs those performing in the 75th percentile was 0.005 for inpatient mortality, 0.006 for 30-day mortality, and 0.012 for 1-year mortality (P<.001 for each comparison). Hospital performance measures predict small differences in hospital risk-adjusted mortality rates. Efforts should be made to develop performance measures that are tightly linked to patient outcomes.

Aetna clients' personal data stolen
Companies reporting data breaches over the past two years include LexisNexis Group, which revealed that criminals may have breached computer files containing the personal information of 310,000 people since January 2003. Also, Georgia-based data broker ChoicePoint Inc. disclosed a security breach last year involving 145,000 Americans. In May, President Bush signed an executive order creating the nation's first Identity Theft Task Force. The goals of the Task Force are to develop a strategic plan to better prevent identity theft, coordinate prosecution and ensure recovery for victims. For questions about identity theft or to report identity theft, call the FTC at (877) ID-THEFT or visit The FTC's ID Theft Website

Adjuvant! Online -- Decision making tools for health care professionals
The recommended method for using Adjuvant! (this website and included software) is to have an experienced health professional enter the data on the website and then print out the results and the toxicity review sheets for the adjuvant regimens to be discussed.

The Informatics Review now available through Technorati
Technorati Profile