Affordability is the top driver of the majority of U.S. consumers' (72 percent) healthcare decisions among those who plan to join insurance exchanges. Less than one-third (30 percent), however, are willing to change doctors or healthcare settings to reduce costs, according to a new survey of 3,209 people by Accenture.

As a follow up to the recently announced Patient Engagement Framework, the National eHealth Collaborative has launched an affiliated online assessment tool.

Patients with diabetes enrolled in an intervention utilizing online tools to assist with self-management achieved slightly better health outcomes than diabetic patients receiving usual care, according to research published online Nov. 20 by the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Merge Healthcare will connect its imaging network with the Surescripts Network for Clinical Interoperability. This connectivity will allow hospitals and imaging centers to electronically deliver imaging reports to care provider organizations through EHRs on the Surescripts Network.

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems has joined with Microsoft Corp. to develop and launch the NextGen MedicineCabinet application. With the goal being increased patient engagement, the NextGen MedicineCabinet allows customers to create, store, track and share personal medication records.

Users tend to view new technology as foreign and contrary to established habits and associations, said Robert J. Szczerba, PhD, director of Lockheed Martin’s global healthcare initiatives. So, the underlying cultural environment must change and accept new technologies for those technologies to successfully improve healthcare. Szczerba spoke during a Nov. 20 webinar presented by the Institute for Health Technology Transformation.

Federal agencies have failed to adequately assess whether billions of dollars invested in major IT projects will keep those projects on track to meet agency needs, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Patients with online access to their medical records and secure email communication with clinicians had increased use of clinical services, including office visits and telephone encounters, compared to patients who did not have online access, according to a study appearing in the Nov. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.