The Certification Commission for Health IT (CCHIT) has launched its Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC)-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ATCB) certification program for EHRs to certify that they are capable of meeting the 2011-2012 criteria to support Stage 1 meaningful use, as required by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

EMR sales experienced their lowest dip in seven years in 2008, but purchases by large hospitals nearly doubled from 65 in 2008 to 111 in 2009, reflecting the increased attention on EMR systems from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), according to a report issued Sept. 21 by healthcare market research firm KLAS.

Kittitas Valley Community Hospitals health information exchange (HIE) grew out of a physician communitys quest for better communications and efficiency, said Don A. Solberg, MD, chief medical officer at Kittitas Valley in Ellensburg, Wash. Several years ago, primary care physicians in the community started to explore their EHR options, eventually standardizing on NextGen Healthcares platform and a shared community network called NextGen Health Information Exchange.

A multidisciplinary team has developed a new microscopic hollow particle that can functions as a color Doppler ultrasound contrast agent for breast imaging, which could help physicians better localize breast cancers prior to surgery, according to an article published in the September edition of MedChemComm.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has named InfoGard Laboratories as an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body. InfoGard, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., has been approved for certification of complete EHRs and EHR modules for both ambulatory and inpatient settings, effective Sept. 24.

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has contributed to the expansion of the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) medical image exchange standard, Supplement 145, for the accommodation of pathology.

Proton therapy provider ProCure will open its second proton therapy center, the CDH Proton Center, A ProCure Center, in Warrenville, Ill. on Oct. 19.

Radiography technology provider Konica Minolta Medical & Graphic has developed a new wireless DR system.