Report: Best practices saving lives, hospitals money

In the meantime, patients sharing their appointments with other patients -- group doctor visits -- gains popularity.

Marketplace: Hospitals Are Sharing Data To Save Lives
A new report shows over the past five years, 350 hospitals have saved more than $11 billion and nearly 150,000 lives by following best practices like how to treat pneumonia and hospital acquired infections. Five years ago, the firm Premier launched a national quality improvement project for hospitals. The firm's Blair Childs says through sharing data and adhering to best practices health systems have seen dramatic changes (Gorenstein, 2/14).

ABC News: Group Doctor Visits: Why Share Your Care?
Would you mind if a dozen total strangers sat in on your next doctor visit? While shared medical appointments may seem like a radical departure from traditional one-on-one care, they've made steady inroads into primary care practices since the model was introduced in the early 1990s. The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates that the number of family physicians using group doctor visits doubled in five years, from 5.7 percent in 2005 to 12.7 percent in 2010. Instead of getting the standard 15 minutes of face time with their physician, patients with similar medical issues who are willing to meet en masse can spend their usual health insurance copayment and receive up to two hours of advice on how to cope with their condition from their doctor, the doctor's medical staff -- and each other (MacDonald, 2/16).