Healthcare organizations and vendors, take note: Registration opened this week for HIMSS11s Interoperability Showcase, and would-be participants should be able to register for the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) North American Connectathon event by the end of the week. During the Connectathon event Jan. 17-21, 2011, systems from multiple vendors exchange information and perform the transactions required for the roles they have selected, called IHE Actors, in support of clinical use cases called IHE Profiles. Systems will demonstrate their ability to exchange data in real time at the HIMSS11 Interoperability Showcase in late February.

Affordable Care Act grants totaling $46 million will be distributed to 45 states and Washington, D.C. to help improve the oversight of proposed health insurance premium increases, take action against insurers seeking unreasonable rate hikes and ensure consumers receive value for their premium dollars, announced U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra joined state healthcare and technology agencies yesterday at the University of California Davis Cancer Center in Sacramento to jumpstart the California Telehealth Network.

Medical imaging equipment distributor Associated X-Ray Imaging, based in Haverhill, Mass., will represent radiological systems manufacturer Diagnostic Imaging Specialists as of Aug. 1.

Rimage has received approval of registration for its majority-owned joint venture, Rimage Information Technology, and has been issued a business license in China.

QuadraMed and the CPM Resource Center, an Elsevier company, have entered into a partnership to provide QuadraMed's clients with nursing and allied health clinical documentation, care planning, clinical practice guidelines and transformation services.

PACSGear has acquired all assets of NAI Tech Products, a Auburn, Calif.-based developer of digital video capture of medical images, for an undisclosed sum.

To help shrink improper payments, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a list of medical necessity review audits required for its Medicare recovery audit contractor (RAC) program.