The FDA recommended Aug. 16 that patients who have implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) with Riata and Riata ST leads, manufactured by St. Jude Medical, should have x-rays or other imaging alternatives to check for abnormalities in the insulation surrounding the lead. The agency also is requiring St. Jude to conduct three-year post-market surveillance studies on its Riata and Riata ST leads, as well as its QuickFlex LV CRT leads; QuickSite LV CRT leads; and Riata ST Optim and Durata ICD leads.

The Michiana Health Information Network has implemented the Direct project, an initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aimed at simplifying the way patients and providers exchange health information electronically.

Because identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes, healthcare privacy and security enforcement activities have increased dramatically over the last two years, Linn Foster Freedman, JD, an attorney with Nixon Peabody in Providence, R.I., said during a program presented by the Rhode Island Quality Institute.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that three healthcare systems are joining 16 independent practices in the Independence at Home Demonstration, an initiative to provide home-based primary care to chronically ill patients with the goal of reducing hospitalizations and healthcare costs.

SimonMed Imaging, an outpatient physician imaging practice, will deploy Merge's radiology systems along with iConnect Access and iConnect VNA.

With $16.9 million in funding approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Massachusetts is moving forward with a statewide health information exchange (HIE).

Franciscan Alliance has selected Merge Healthcare's iConnect Access to image-enable its EMR and provide access to radiology and cardiology images and information across its network of 13 hospitals in Indiana and Illinois.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is connecting its Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record Health Communities program to HEALTHeLINK, a health information exchange (HIE) that is part of the Western New York Beacon Community.