An effort at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) to enhance clinical decision making through cross-departmental collaboration and effective use of diagnostics has improved patient care and saved the institution more than $1 million in 2016, VUMC officials reported this week.

A new computer algorithm developed at Vanderbilt could save billions of dollars in health care costs by identifying patients at risk for readmission after being hospitalized for heart failure.

“There’s no magic bullet” to control rising health care costs in the United States, health law expert Timothy Jost, J.D., said during last week’s Flexner Discovery Lecture.