The New Year brings out traditions, predictions, and resolutions. It is also a time when organizations post their reviews of 2014 and their lists for 2015. My Inbox has been bombarded with many reviews and lists. In this column, we examine three different prediction lists that will serve as a foundation for future columns on implications for nursing education. (See Table.)A MIXTURE OF NEW AND OLD SHIFTSAt end of November, Terry Fouts, MD, chief medical officer for MedeAnalytics, offered his perspectives on four predictions for 2015. He noted that the health care landscape has become clearer in some regards and murkier in others. Fouts' perspectives are important as we examine our curriculum to prepare next generation of nurses.Fouts' first prediction, that care and testing will progressively move to patients' homes, highlights increased use of telehealth. This trend will continue with pending provider shortage and as more patients with chronic diseases are monitored by devices such as glucose monitors, blood pressure cuffs, digital Bluetooth weight scales, and pulse oximetry. Fouts also talks about establishment of retail-type clinics located in communities, therefore making care more accessible.His second prediction is focused on importance of social context of patient and ensuring that relevant data elements are collected and analyzed to meet needs of patients. We teach our nursing students that behavior, including cultural beliefs, genomics (geographic location and socioeconomic status), and environment have an impact on health outcomes. But are these documented and analyzed so health care agencies can begin to examine other methods to meet needs of patients? Fouts provides an example of a single mother with an asthmatic child who is without transportation - and impact of these factors on health outcomes for this child.The third prediction, that data analytics challenge practices, focuses on emerging field of data science and big data. This is particularly important in health care as we begin harnessing electronic health record (EHR) data to create a learning health system and improve health care quality and effectiveness. The ability to mine data to determine best practices within one's institution or across institutions may raise questions about existing clinical guidelines based on consensus models. It will also raise issues of data integrity and legal and policy issues connected with secondary use of clinical data. The idea of patient-generated health data, and how such data are factored into data analytics and practices, will also be a continuing topic.Many in informatics and health care communities echo Fouts' final prediction about improvement of EHRs. Since push for adoption of EHRs began in 2004, there has been a continuous debate on their value and their impact on patient care outcomes, provider workflow, and patient-provider interactions. Fouts notes that cut-and-paste problems and practice efficiency are just some of serious dilemmas that clinicians face when it comes to EHRs - never mind patient safety and public health concerns. For Fouts, EHR improvements must provide health care professionals with rich, meaningful, and actionable data in order to improve patient care.TOP 10 HEALTH TECHNOLOGY HAZARDSSpeaking of errors, ECRI Institute released its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2015, which identifies patient safety risks that need attention in New Year. The institute uses various methods to determine its annual list, including talking with nurses and other health care professionals. Nominations are assessed and then reviewed by advisory boards and staff.Each hazard is described, with recommendations, in a yearly report. Most are proposed at a system level, but may also be relevant for nursing in area of patient safety. Perhaps most relevant hazards concern alarms (physiologic monitors, ventilators, and infusion pumps), data integrity (missing or incorrect data in EHRs), mix-up of IV lines, ventilator disconnects, and patient-handling devices. …