In an integrated healthcare world, a personal health record (PHR) provides a secure, patient-accessible destination for clinicians to deliver information to patients from an EHR or EMR. Much depends on how theyre used and by whom. And the question still remains: Will people embrace them?

The Rhode Island Quality Institute took on the technical responsibilities for the statewide health information exchange (HIE) system, currentcare, at the end of July 2010. Equipped with government financial backing, the HIE is starting to take off the ground.

At a roundtable discussion during the June CMIO Summit in Boston, four physician IT leaders brainstormed on how to improve healthcare quality, create usable data and engage patients in their own care. Sponsored by an educational grant from Oracle

Community Health Information Collaborative (CHIC) has announced the consolidation of its business operations with Minnesota Health Information Exchange (MN HIE).

When transferring images, it is important to have a process that promotes the validation of data, and includes the patient in the process, according to an article published in this month's Journal of Digital Imaging.

The HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association (EHR Association), a collaboration of 42 EHR suppliers, announced new leadership for the coming year following its annual elections in June.

Memorial Hermann Healthcare System of Houston has launched a program to help push patient health data to authorized caregivers via the Memorial Hermann Information Exchange (MHIE).

Threatened with cutoff from Medicare reimbursements due to numerous safety violations, Parkland Hospital in Dallas has been working hard to heal its own wounds. Its clinical engineering department has played a crucial role in the effort. In an interview with Healthcare Technology Management, the departments director, Tom Collins, encouraged others to learn from the intense experience his team is living through as Parkland's compliance deadline approaches.