A new independent evaluation report from the Department of Health and Human Services showed that the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) payment model has generated substantial savings to Medicare in just two years. Additionally, the independent Office of the Actuary in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has certified that this patient care model is the first to meet the stringent criteria for expansion to a larger population of Medicare beneficiaries.

Cancer Targeted Technology (CTT), announced that it was awarded a NIH two-year, $2 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant. The funds will be used to develop a new agent that will help diagnose and monitor metastatic prostate cancer.

Pressure to create alternative payment models has led to a significant increase in provider interest in partnering with Premier Inc. to develop and implement population health management strategies.

At Nebraska Medicine, technology innovations bring with them opportunities to enhance patient care. The ability to integrate patient images with synchronized and simultaneous audio and video has Nebraska Medicine’s telehealth coordinator Kyle Hall looking at new ways to implement telehealth and mobile devices, such as iPads and Google Glass, at clinics and hospitals.

Men with naturally high levels of estrogen may have a greater risk of developing breast cancer, according to research by an international collaboration including Cancer Research UK. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.