The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a free app to help small to medium-sized outpatient healthcare providers conduct required security risk assessments.

State health IT leaders are looking to data sharing, interoperability and governance strategies to usher in the next phase of the Affordable Care Act.

There are many opportunities to support information exchange across healthcare settings as well as existing provisions that “provide huge opportunity,” said Kelly Cronin, health reform coordinator at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, speaking at the 2014 State Healthcare IT Connect Summit.

At $100,000 per bed for implementation alone, tele-intensive care unit technology (ICU) is a costly investment. However, an extensive literature review from researchers at Marshall University of South Charleston, W.V., concludes that this investment pays off, as it decreases costs of providing intensive care and improves patient outcomes such as mortality and length of stay.

The Senate voted to approve a bill that will delay the implementation of ICD until at least Oct. 1, 2015. The bill now moves to President Obama, who is expected to sign it into law. The bill was passed 64-35 on Monday, March 31.

A new brief from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation follows up on an Institute of Medicine patient safety report and recommendations on how hospitals could change to reduce errors.

Several projects aim to conect veterans, particularly those in rural areas, with their healthcare providers, according to a post on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT blog, Health IT Buzz.

A major barrier to launching telehealth programs is convincing healthcare providers that the initial investment of technology and infrastructure will pay off, said Kathy Wibberly, PhD, director of the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center at the University of Virginia.