Get 'smart' about workstations.

The days of accessing patient health records via a clipboard and keeping drugs stored under simple lock and key are unceremoniously coming to a close. As healthcare IT paves the way toward a future run on data and interoperable systems, "smart" workstations are popping up in practices all over the world, streamlining workflow and creating a safer environment for clinician and patient alike. Health Management Technology talks with two of the leading manufacturers of automated systems and mobile workstations to discuss how they are changing the way providers and patients experience healthcare services.

The era of accountable care. Industry experts weigh-in on the status of ACOs.

The guiding principle behind accountable care organizations (ACOs) is a simple one: Coordinate health services to maximize efficiency and facilitate better patient outcomes. Providers would be paid for the results they produce, not simply for the care they provide. Over the years, these coordinating groups of practices have gone by many names, but it wasn't until the reforms of the Affordable Care Act that ACOs began to take their present form, focusing on meeting new patient satisfaction benchmarks and reducing the financial burden caused by patients receiving unnecessary services.