An initiative is afoot to document each patient’s anticipated date of discharge in StarPanel (the electronic medical record system) upon admission to Vanderbilt University Hospital, then update it daily and remind patients of it daily.

Vanderbilt Home Care Services has been named to the 2013 HomeCare Elite, an unranked listing of the top 25 percent of U.S. home health agencies, based on various publicly available clinical and financial performance data.

Three members of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center community were among 19 individuals and organizations honored at the 75th annual meeting of the Tennessee Hospital Association, held recently in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.

On Jan. 1, 2014, hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans will become eligible for federally subsidized health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Vanderbilt University Medical Center is launching a campaign to increase patient awareness about the ACA and help patients enroll in subsidized insurance plans.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center staff and faculty are preparing for a new health care landscape, one shaped by a lowered payment regime, greater outside scrutiny of health care quality, new rewards and penalties for hospital and provider safety and quality, and the transfer of financial risk for health outcomes from payers to newly affiliated hospitals and providers.

As never before, large employers and regional health care providers have opportunity — and incentive — to work together to tame unsustainable health benefit cost inflation while improving health and health care outcomes.