The American Hospital Association (AHA) has issued a comment to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, voicing support for an interim final rule regarding Adoption of Operating Rules for Healthcare Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT) and Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) Transactions contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

With the amount of patient-direct information growing, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is developing a rating system, called the Health Information Rating System. The system was discussed in a Federal Register posting and pays particular attention on patient data provided by EHRs.

Pamela Arora, Charles E. Christian and George McCulloch have been elected to the the College of Health Information Management Executives (CHIME) Board of Trustees.

Evidence-based medicine has evolved very quickly in the ambulatory setting, and the transition to the patient-centered medical home model will require technological and cultural changes to proactively bring care to the patient, as opposed to patients approaching providers for care, according to Donald R. Lurye, MD, CEO of Elmhurst Clinic in Elmhurst, Ill., during his Oct. 4 presentation the CMIO Summit: Transforming Healthcare through Evidence-Based Medicine.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) acquired CapSite, a healthcare technology and consulting organization based in Burlington, Vt., effective Oct. 1.

BOSTON—Companies that cultivate an exercise-friendly environment are doing themselves and society a favor, according to two behavioral health specialists speaking at the Oct. 1 Future of Health Technology Institute Summit hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A framework that describes the ability of specific health information exchange and EHR functionalities to drive financial savings could help efforts to develop meaningful use measures and measure the financial impact of health IT, according to research published in the August issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.

Blue Shield of California will enter a partnership with Dominican Hospital and Physicians Medical Group of Santa Cruz County on a three-year accountable care initiative.