Bernie Monegain

Several leading academic medical centers and community health systems have formed a coalition to join the debate over the direction of healthcare information technology.

Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital recently went live with a centralized pharmacy information system that hospital executives say will help close the medication loop.

Virtua, the largest integrated delivery network in southern New Jersey, is rolling out new information technology for operating rooms in nine facilities.

EHR adoption and finances remain the top challenges facing medical practices, according to a new survey from the Medical Group Management Association.

Electronic medical record sales for 2009 are expected to far exceed 2008 sales, which were at their lowest in seven years to hospitals with more than 200 beds, according to research firm KLAS.

The National Transitions of Care Coalition has formed the Health Information Technology Work Group to focus on national efforts to develop electronic medical records and HIT exchanges and promote interoperability.

An EHR program that cut cardiac deaths by 73 percent has also kept patients healthy two years later, according to a new study.

Allscripts shareholders have filed a lawsuit alleging the company broke federal securities laws when it went live with the newest version of its EHR clinical software, Touchworks. Allscripts officers say the suit is without merit.

Todd Park, athenahealth's co-founder and a member of its board of directors, has been appointed chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Obama admnistration's point man for healthcare information technology told leaders in Maine on Friday that their statewide health information exchange - HealthInfoNet - could serve as a model across the country.