The economic slump is likely to delay information technology investments in hospitals across the country, according to a new survey by the American Hospital Association.

The Department of Health and Human Services has issued a final rule on procedures and requirements for Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs).

Health System leaders met Thursday at Cancer Care Ontario's Cancer 2.0 conference to discuss how information technology is changing cancer control and the delivery of cancer services in the Canadian province.

Students attending the Nelda C. Stark College of Nursing at Texas Woman's University, or TWU, will be able to utilize technology in their curriculum as a result of a partnership among TWU, Memorial Hermann Hospital System and VISICU.

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology announced Thursday it has appointed three new members to its nine-member board of trustees.

President-elect Barack Obama has nominated former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services, according to Capitol Hill sources. Daschle's appointment reportedly hinges on a review of potential conflicts of interest regarding his work with the Mayo Clinic and a healthcare lobby, according to the New York Times.

The Indiana Health Information Exchange has launched a chronic disease management program called Quality Health First, aimed at helping physicians and patients achieve better health outcomes.

TELUS, a national telecommunications company in Canada, has made plans to make continued capital investments in the healthcare segment to the tune of $100 million over three years.

A study released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) shows that certain factors consistently prevent elderly, chronically ill and underserved consumers and their physicians from using healthcare IT or drive them away from it.

As Congress gets down to business Monday, the first day of its lame-duck session, some staffers are headed to George Washington University Hospital for a healthcare IT tutorial.

With continued focus on how the Obama administration might affect healthcare IT, this week's news that the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology will likely stay in place is a welcome relief, say healthcare leaders.

The American Health Information Community, the federal advisory panel to the Department of Health and Human Services on healthcare IT adoption, held its 25th and last meeting Wednesday, leaving its private-public successor, AHIC 2.0, to carry on the work.

Medicare beneficiaries in Arizona and Utah are poised to begin a personal health record pilot in early 2009, and on Wednesday Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt announced the four participating PHR companies.

Google will use information pulled from its users' search engine queries to help the Centers for Disease Control track the influenza virus.

The more than $1.5 million in Rural Utility Service grants that has been awarded by the USDA to fund expansion of Electronic Intensive Care Units or eICU Programs is helping to boost critical care experts for rural areas.

The campaign is done, and the pressure to reform healthcare has begun, with an emphasis on information technology and on health insurance for children.

The use of diagnostic imaging tests is rising rapidly and contributing to the increasing cost of healthcare, concludes a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle.

President-elect Barack Obama's plan to extend healthcare to uninsured Americans will be beneficial to hospitals, medical centers and hospital equipment makers, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Intel has rolled out its first in a series of health monitoring devices aimed at tracking chronic and age-related conditions. The new technology, which connects patients and physicians, gives the company a foothold in what is considered a new category of personal health systems.

The current economy is projected to have a negative impact on imaging sales, according to Millennium Research Group's "US Markets for Diagnostic Imaging Systems 2009" report and its U.S. Imaging Marketrack service.