As part of his team's fourth-quarter earnings report this week, HealthStream CEO Bobby Frist also announced the company's move into the long-term care and home health provider markets as well as other post-acute segments. On the company's conference call with analysts Wednesday, Frist offered up some more details. Here are some of them; for the full transcript of the call, click here.

• HealthStream already has some clients in this space and is reorganizing its internal reporting to better group them. It's also hiring a number of salespeople — its total sales force grew to 76 from 61 last year and should add another 10 people in the coming months — to focus on post-acute prospects. However, Frist said meaningful new revenue streams from the push won't show up until late this year.

• Look for news of content and technology partnerships this spring as HealthStream builds out its offerings to the post-acute market, which executives say has a workforce of about 3 million. Costs won't ramp up quickly, Frist said, but will likely peak late in the third quarter as hiring picks up.

• Pricing and margins could become interesting. Frist said HealthStream's research shows a number of playes in the post-acute talent management space have price points that are higher than in the acute-care arena. So HealthStream has a chance to sell its products for more than it's charging for its main business now but still be a relative bargain in the post-acute market.

• As has been the case with HealthStream's existing businesses, acquisitions or joint ventures are on the table when it comes to building out oferings.

"It might be supplemental over time. We’ll take our time and process those opportunities, but I would not exclude opportunities in that space just because we’ve launched an organic strategy," Frist said. "We might find really good compliments on how to help that vertical grow as well."

Shares of HealthStream (Ticker: HSTM) are up about 1 percent to about $21.40 in early Thursday action. They're off about 12 percent so far this year.

Dr. Verla Marie Williams Vaughan — a veteran professor of nursing at Tennessee State University and a woman many within the TSU family considered a living legend — has died. She was 64.

TSU officials announced Vaughn’s death in a release, noting the longtime educator and administrator was “an excellent role model, scholar, mentor and a very caring person who pushed her students to achieve at their highest potential.” A cause of death was not given.

Vaughan (pictured) taught at TSU for more than 36 years. Dr. Kathy Martin, associate dean in the College of Health Sciences and executive director of nursing, called her a leader in fostering excellence in education within the nursing profession.

“Throughout her career as a nurse educator, Dr. Vaughan served as a role model, scholar and mentor for nursing students and colleagues across all levels,” Martin said. “She exemplified the vital role that nurses play in improving the health of others especially in the area of diabetes management and improving health care disparities.”

Vaughan joined the faculty in the Division of Nursing in the former School of Nursing at TSU in 1977. In addition to teaching, she served in many capacities including coordinator of the RN-BSN degree-completion program, and interim director of the BSN program – all while serving in different nursing capacities at local hospitals.

Vaughan also served as the chair of the Christine Sharpe Lectureship series. Her civic and professional affiliations included the American Nurses Association, American Diabetes Association, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society-Pi Upsilon Chapter, Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority-Kappa Lambda Omega Chapter, and the Parthenon LINKS.

Vaughan, who earned a B.S. degree in psychology from TSU, received a master’s degree in nursing from Vanderbilt University, and a Ph.D., also in nursing, from Texas Woman’s University. She is survived by husband Harry L. Vaughan; children Sydney Kevin Aldridge, Jr., Tracey Dixon, Kimberly Vaughan and Harriet Wallace; and grandchildren Kayla Vaughan, Amber Quarles and Taniya Dixon.

Officials with the Belmont University School of Nursing announced Monday an expansion of the degree program for the doctor of nursing practice.

The is being made to support national efforts to increase the number of nurse professionals prepared for advanced practice and leadership in the healthcare industry, officials said. The BU School of Nursing is now accepting applications for fall enrollment to a BSN-to-DNP program, which provides a direct pathway to the doctoral degree for registered nurses who hold a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing.

“We believe the DNP will be the education necessary for future practice in the advanced role,” Dr. Martha Buckner, associate dean for nursing in Belmont’s Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing, said in a release. “This program will open doors in nursing practice, policy and education that will become increasingly evident in the years ahead.”

The Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. — a giant in the civil rights movement and one of Vanderbilt University’s most esteemed graduates — has donated a significant portion of his papers to Vanderbilt Libraries’ Special Collections.

Ann Marie Deer Owens and vanderbilt.edu have the story here.

In the year since John Wark opened the doors to the nonprofit Nashville Software School, the developer academy has found its place in the city's creative community — and turned away some folks Wark says looked like they would leave town as quickly as they got here. Pierce Greenberg has the story in this week's City Paper, where he writes about Wark's plans to add night classes and hook up with local government and education officials.

“I’ve shown we can create employable, entry-level developers. So I think we’re at the point where we can have a serious conversation with both the city, who again is committed to development of the tech workforce, and the state,” Wark said.

Vanderbilt University's Alexander Maier, an assistant professor of psychology, has won a two-year $50,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation research fellowship aimed at encouraging promising young scholars.

Kara Furlong and vanderbilt.edu have the story here.

Robert Bayuzick, who conducted experiments for the space shuttle Columbia while he simultaneously served as a Vanderbilt University professor of chemical engineering and director of materials science, died Feb. 8. He was 75.

Read more here at vanderbilt.edu.