The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has partnered with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to publish new reports to guide software developers in improving EHR usability.

Providence Care, a health services provider based in Kingston, Ontario, has selected QuadraMeds computerized-patient record EMR to drive regional patient data sharing.

Health insurance company Medica will begin to offer a personalized online health management program for its commercial members on Jan. 1, 2011. The online program determines a persons health status and ability to take health-related action enabling Medica to tailor support and allocate resources to its members.

The percentage of CIOs who expect their organizations to qualify early for stimulus funding for implementing EHRs has dropped by half since August, according to a survey by the College of Health Information Management Executives (CHIME).

Many of the Beacon Communities are focusing efforts on initiatives involving clinical data repositories, analytics and master patient indexes, according to Craig Brammer, deputy director of the Beacon Community Program at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) during a webinar this week hosted by the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC).

Wooster, Ohio-based health information exchange (HIE) eLINCx will implement GE Healthcares eHealth Information Exchange across Wooster Community Hospital, Dunlap Community Hospital and more than a dozen physician practices.

Pediatric medical center Childrens Hospital Boston has received its Stage 7 award from HIMSS Analytics, representing its attainment of the highest level on the EMR Adoption Model used to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems.

Aetna has entered into an agreement to acquire Medicity, a health information exchange (HIE) technology company, for approximately $500 million.