It’s been a busy month of news related to electronic records from the latest figures associated with Meaningful Use incentive payments to studies showing how EHRs are saving costs and improving screening rates.

For rural hospitals, the number one barrier to achieving Meaningful Use attestation is acquisition of an EHR system, reported Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Insurance Specialist Robert Anthony to the Health IT Policy Committee on Dec. 4.

As of October, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has distributed just shy of $17 billion in EHR incentive payments to 329,688 unique eligible professionals and hospitals, CMS Health Insurance Specialist Robert Anthony reported to the Health IT Policy Committee on Dec. 4.

Happtique, a mobile health solutions company, has certified 19 health and medical apps that meet certain benchmarks in privacy, security and operability.

Thirty-four Chicago-area hospitals are poised to link up to the city’s new health information exchange (HIE), set to launch in early 2014, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Five more EHR vendors have had their products certified for meeting some or all requirements of revised Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the Meaningful Use program.

Acting Surgeon General Boris D. Lushniak, MD, MPH, has designated Thanksgiving as “Family Health History Day” and shares a new tool designed to help people assemble their family health history.

New guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services addresses Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements related to summary of care, clinical summary and patient electronic access to their records.