A study in Nature Medicine estimates that US residents have a 42% lifetime risk for dementia after age 55, compared with previous estimates of 14% for men and 23% for women, and the highest risk is after age 85. Dementia cases will double by 2060 due to longer life spans, and Black Americans face the highest risks due to higher hypertension and diabetes rates, driven by structural factors including unequal access to health care, according to the study.

The 2025 CPT update includes significant changes to evaluation and management guidelines for split/shared visits, which involve services provided by both physicians and nonphysician practitioners in the same group. The update clarifies the interpretation of the "substantive portion" of the E&M visit, stating that the professional who spends the majority of time or makes key medical decisions should report the service, writes registered health information administrator Christine Geiger.

Patients who frequently reschedule appointments waste resources and limit availability for others, and advanced scheduling software can be used to identify patterns so that alternatives such as telehealth can be offered, writes internist Fred Pelzman, medical director at Weill Cornell Internal Medicine Associates. Open-access scheduling, dedicated slots for urgent or last-minute visits, flexible coverage, navigators, electronic options and reminders can also help solve the problem of missed appointments, Pelzman writes.

Elizabeth Mort, vice president and chief medical officer at the Joint Commission, and Kevin Zacharyasz, director of health care sustainability at the Joint Commission, say health systems must prioritize disaster contingency planning as climate change raises risks for disasters such as flooding, wildfires and hurricanes. The Joint Commission recently urged hospitals to create comprehensive plans for climate-related disasters. Analyze vulnerabilities and devise care continuity plans even for rare events, and plan for impacts on the entire sector, including the supply chain, Mort and Zacharyasz suggest.

A unified EHR system was a key consideration when Billings Clinic and Logan Health merged in 2023, and Oracle Health's database integration, interoperability and AI capabilities swayed the decision, says Justin Ott, the health system's CIO. Ott says there's still a need to evaluate technology from other vendors and suggests taking a collaborative approach with subject matter experts, clinical teams and IT specialists working together.

Mayo Clinic scanned its pathology slide archive as well as slides from current patients to create the Mayo Clinic Digital Pathology platform, leveraging 20 million digital slides and 10 million patient records to enhance diagnostics and treatment. The initiative, supported by Nvidia and Aignostics, may accelerate AI development in pathology, and a foundation model has already been built on 1.2 million deidentified slides.

HHS has appointed Alicia Rouault to serve as chief technology officer, Kristen Honey as chief data officer and Meghan Dierks as chief AI officer. The move follows a reorganization that shifted these roles to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

HHS' new strategic plan to enhance health services through AI emphasizes collaboration with the private sector and outlines four priorities: driving AI innovation, promoting ethical technology, increasing accessibility and developing an AI-trained workforce. HHS reported 271 internal AI use cases in 2024, a 66% increase from 2023.

In the latest issue of the Journal of AHIMA, read about the value of mentoring for health information professionals, health leaders' views of major HI issues for 2025, and what constitutes artificial intelligence.