FARMINGTON, Mont., April 23, 2013 -- Frontier Medicine Better Health Partnership (FMBHP) and Vree Health – a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. focused on technology-enabled services designed to improve the reach, cost-efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare – today announced a collaboration designed to improve care transitions and reduce hospital readmission rates for patients in rural areas. Over the coming months, FMBHP and Vree Health will develop new, improved processes for transitioning patients from hospital to home within at least 10 Montana communities that will be pilots to inform later programs.

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2013 -- About one-third of Latinos or 15 million people will be seeking new doctors for diabetes, hypertension, cancer and preventive services when they become eligible to receive or buy health care coverage under the new health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  As the nation's Latino doctors come together this week for the 17th Annual Conference of the National Hispanic Medical Association, the implementation of the ACA and ensuring access to the benefits of the new law for Hispanic patients will be at the forefront of the agenda.  The conference opens Friday, April 27 th at 9:00 am at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC.

AUSTIN, Texas, April 17--Gazzang, the Linux data security company, today announced its software-based data security solutions are enabling health care organizations to confidently move sensitive data into cloud and big data environments.

Certification to the health information exchange marketplace should be extended to advance interoperability, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) recommended in April 19 comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). The two agencies had issued a joint request on March 7 for information on potential policy and program changes to foster interoperability.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--The Premier healthcare alliance has partnered with Phytel to automate population health services, helping health systems deliver safer and lower-cost care across the continuum.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and Healthdata.gov is offering $25,000 in prizes in its most recent Apps4TotsHealth Challenge, according to an online announcement.

If health data are a valuable resource, why not donate it like blood?, Amy Abernethy, MD, director of the Center for Learning Health Care, Duke Clinical Research Institute, asked an audience at the TEDMED conference on April 17.

Schaumburg, IL & Oakville, ON  April 18, 2013 -- For more than 80 years, Acclaim Health has been providing client-based care to individuals in their community. Acclaim Health Nursing professionals offer an array of services that provide quality care and support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Their approach to healthcare puts clients first by ensuring their staff has access to client health information, medical orders and clinical best practices at the point of care, the client’s home.