Research shows that scheduling babies for delivery prior to 39 weeks gestation is connected to a higher likelihood of death, admittance to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and life-long health problems.

Yet, an astonishing number of deliveries occur too early with no medical need – 23 percent in Illinois, according to the Leapfrog Group. The numbers show wide variation among hospitals.

The Healthy Babies, Healthy Moms team wants to eliminate early elective deliveries in Illinois. 

In observance of National Influenza Vaccination Week (Dec. 4 to 10), Quest continues its reporting of the percentage of vaccinated employees at regional hospitals with the Flu Shot Percentage Report for the 2011-2012 flu season. It starts with October 2011 data and will be updated monthly through March 2012.

Data may actually be entered into the Central Illinois Health Information Exchange (CIHIE) in October. Volunteers gathered to honor the remarkable progress at the CIHIE annual meeting July 12.

How Much is Too Much? High Tech Imaging Use and Radiation Safety, a Quest-sponsored continuing medical education (CME) conference, was held in Urbana on May 24 and in Chicago on May 23.

"The next five years in healthcare are probably going to be the most exiting in the last 50," the President and CEO of Methodist Health Services Cooperation, Michael Bryant said, adding that providers are given a special moment to improve healthcare for future generations.

Bryant was one of four speakers at the Heartland Healthcare Coalition's 10th annual conference, "Accountable Care Organizations, Medical Homes, and Connectivity: The New Foundation for Health Care Services?"