Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday that $27.8 million in grants would become available, through the the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to expand EHR and health IT adoption and usage in the United States.

Last week, House Energy and Commerce Committees markup of HR 3200Americans Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009Reps. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. and Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, offered, and then withdrew, an amendment to close the in-office ancillary services exception for advanced medical imaging under the Stark law.

Vida Diagnostics, a developer of quantitative imaging software for the analysis of pulmonary diseases, has appointed Susan A. Wood, PhD, as president and CEO.

Abnormal results on outpatient imaging tests sometimes may not receive timely follow-up even when clinicians receive and read results in an advanced, integrated EMR system, according to a study in the Sept. 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Denmark has rolled-out two telehealth pilot programs it now intends to implement on a nationwide basis over the next three years.

Vermont Information Technology Leaders (VITL), a non-profit organization facilitating the expanded use of health IT in Vermont, and Chicago-based healthcare IT developer Allscripts intend to enter a strategic alliance.

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and Microsoft have enhanced Mayo Clinic's Health Manager application with features to help users manage hypertension and high cholesterol.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) honored its 2009 Davies Award recipients this week in Washington, D.C.