Health IT spending to approach $10 billion by 2014
Money provided under the economic stimulus law will help state and federal governments increase health information technology spending by $7.6 billion to $9.6 billion by 2014, according to a report by market research firm INPUT. Much of that spending will be directed toward purchase of electronic health record (EHR) systems, according to “Health IT Transformation: FY2009-FY2014 State and Local Market Forecast.” Spending on that product alone is expected to increase from $850 million in 2009 to $1.85 billion in 2014, and EHR spending in general is expected to spike through 2013 and level off, the report notes. The study adds that state and local agencies are buying 14 different types of health IT products and services, including software and systems for EHRs, decision support, clinical data, pharmacy, patient tracking, health information exchange, telehealth and disease outbreak management. http://www.input.com/corp/library/...

New tech product to improve cardiology IT
GE Healthcare and visual imaging technology firm TomTec Imaging Systems GmbH are collaborating on a product designed to improve cardiologists’ ability to electronically treat heart disorders. The integration of TomTec’s CardioArena program for analysis of 2D/3D/4D data into GE Healthcare’s cardiology information technology solutions portfolio, Centricity Cardiology, will result in streamlined workflows, increased department efficiency and shorter waiting times for patients, according to Juergen Reyinger, vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare IT for Europe, Middle East and Africa. The partnership will enable TomTec and GE Healthcare to deliver the tools cardiologists need to meet the challenges of ever-increasing patient data and images, and allow patients suffering from heart disease to receive personalized and profound diagnoses, Reyinger said. http://www.tomtec.de/news/press_releases/article/teaser...

Center for Telehealth & E-Health Law funding extended
The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) is still looking for an organization to run the new National Telehealth Resource Center (NTRC) and has extended funding for the existing center through Aug. 31, 2010. According to a statement published in the Federal Register, HHS has received no applications for the telemedicine center project, which will provide technical assistance on the policy, legislative and regulatory barriers that affect telehealth services at the national and state levels. As a result, HHS is providing the current national telemedicine institute, the Center for Telehealth & E-Health Law, with an additional $225,000 in funding to continue operation while a new competition is held in 2010.  For more information about NTRC, contact Dena S. Puskin at dpuskin@hrsa.gov or Monica Cowan at mcowan@hrsa.gov.  http://www.fcw.com/Articles/2009/08/27/HHS...

ONC offers funding for health IT extension centers
The federal government plans to distribute nearly $600 million in grants to help build a national network of health information technology training centers, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) announced. According to ONC senior adviser Farzad Mostashari, grants of $8.5 million to $9 million will be awarded to not-for-profit organizations to create 70 regional health IT extension centers nationwide. Another $50 million will go to the National Health IT Research Center, which will serve as a resource for the regional centers. The extension centers will provide health IT education, outreach and resources on best practices, beginning with healthcare providers and group practices of 10 or fewer physicians, Mostashari said. Each extension center will also train roughly 1,500 physicians on electronic health record adoption and help 100,000 primary care providers demonstrate meaningful use of health IT. http://www.govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=72027

CDC awards $2.8 million for HIV-related EHR system
Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. has been awarded $2.8 million for creation of an electronic health record system to improve coordination of care for HIV-positive minority women. The grant, awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services, will allow the system to be implemented in urban centers nationwide, according to S. Vincent Grasso, D.O., a member of the Stevens Healthcare Information Technology Management Advisory Board. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that women account for 26 percent of all HIV diagnoses; AIDS is diagnosed among women of color at a rate of 45.5 per every 100,000, about 23 times greater than the rate for Caucasian women. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162118.php

German ‘10-point’ plan calls for increased telehealth services
German technology association BVMED has published a 10-point plan for advanced medical technology in patient care. The plan will provide a basis for health policy discussions prior to the German general election this fall, according to BVMED Director Joachim M. Schmitt. The 10 points include the need for fewer restrictions on the use of new technology in hospitals, the need for increased emphasis on telehealth and telemedicine throughout Germany, and improved access to comprehensive medical treatment at home by German citizens. Other points include the need for quality rating of medical devices with the CE approval mark – the authorization to market a product throughout Europe – and the need for greater cooperation between medical institutions and the medical research industry. http://www.bvmed.de/presse/pressemitteilung/...

Popularity of HIEs continues to grow
Use of health information exchange services by physicians, hospitals, health plans and patients has increased by more than one-third over the past year, according to a survey by the nonprofit eHealth Initiative (eHI). “Migrating Toward Meaningful Use: The State of Health Information Exchange” indicates that the number of operational exchanges has increased from 42 in 2008 to 57 in 2009. The operational exchanges have positively affected physician practices, helping them increase efficiency without disrupting patient care, and the sheer number of patient records now available through the exchanges – more than 111 million, collectively among 48 of the 57 operational systems – is a strong indication of the growing support for the technology, according to Jennifer Covich, eHI’s chief operating officer.     http://www.ehealthinitiative.org/    http://ehealthinitiative.org/HIESurvey/

Hospitals with health IT considered higher quality
Hospitals that adopt health information technology are considered to be of higher clinical quality, according to a report by the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA). The group’s latest report on its pay-for-performance program – the nation’s largest non-governmental physician incentive system – compared performance scores for eight regions of California, basing results on clinical quality, coordinated diabetes care, health information capacity and patient experience. Regardless of location, the physician groups with health IT systems scored higher than those without, according to IHA. Health IT systems help healthcare providers assess patient compliance, boost care management, collect data and conduct patient outreach, the association notes. http://www.iha.org/pressrel/Press...

Medical social media study to be expanded across Europe
Researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre (RUNMC) in the Netherlands are broadening their study on how many European hospitals use Web 2.0 social media tools to communicate after a successful preliminary run at 2,800 hospitals in Central and Northern Europe. Early results show 11 percent of Swedish facilities use RSS feeds and another 4 percent use blogs, while more than 8 percent of Dutch and British hospitals use social media applications such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. In contrast, less than 1 percent of hospitals in France and Austria use such products, according to the survey. The RUNMC study, which is examining the types of social networking tools and techniques in use at European healthcare facilities, will be expanded to Eastern European hospitals next, according to RUNMC lead researcher Lucien Engelen.http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/5143...    http://hospitalseu.wordpress.com/

FCC seeks input on state of wireless market
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to examine competitive conditions in the mobile wireless marketplace. In a Notice of Inquiry at www.fcc.gov , the agency said a robustly competitive mobile wireless market is essential to full realization of its benefits by the American public. This latest Inquiry, seeking input on new issues and topics, follows up on an earlier public notice by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau from last May. Results will appear in an updated report on the commercial mobile services market to appear next year, according to the FCC.   http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/...

Managerial problems abound for VA and IT projects
Systemic issues for managing and executing complex health information technology projects are creating expensive problems for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), according to a report by the VA Inspector General. The report notes that VA’s lack of supervision over major projects, such as a recent $167 million effort to develop an electronic patient scheduling system for VA hospitals, is resulting in the agency hiring outside groups to handle them, with unsuccessful results. There is, according to the IG, a general lack of communication within the agency that is causing projects such as the patient scheduling system to be put on hold, at the cost of millions of dollars. Although a new program to tightly manage health IT projects has been unveiled by VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker, there are no quick fixes, the IG notes.http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/...    http://www.va.gov/oig/52/reports/2009...

Nurses, doctors spend equal time on Web for medical research
Nurses spend as much time online each week as physicians – eight hours – for professional purposes, and almost all of them use the Internet in between patient consultations, according to a new study by healthcare and pharmaceutical research firm Manhattan Research. “Taking the Pulse U.S. Nurses: Nurses and Emerging Information Technologies” notes that more than 80 percent have visited a pharma, biotech or device company Web site in the past year, with Merck, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and sanofi-aventis as the most popular corporate sites among nurses, according to the report.  Nearly three out of four U.S. nurses recommended such health Web sites to patients. http://www.manhattanresearch.com/products/...