In an effort to educate and provide a community for stakeholders on health IT, the Dept. of Health and Human Services will launch a health IT blog.

The Children's Hospital, Kaiser Permanente Colorado and Exempla Healthcare have established a health information exchange that enables the three large providers to share electronic health records.

Federal health IT policy makers and health IT executives met to discuss ways federal agencies can securely exchange data with private entities within more stringent federal privacy and security rules.

Pennsylvania's Governor's Office of Health Care Reform contract with Medicity to provide health information exchange was not made in a transparent process, charges Kelly Lewis, president and CEO of TechQuest Pennsylvania, operated by the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania.

CareSpark, a regional health information exchange serving 34 counties in east Tennesee and southwest Virginia, has partnered with IT firm CGI to demonstrate how meaningful use can be derived from health information exchanges.

The Health Information Partnership for Tennessee, tasked with establishing a statewide health information exchange, will be using HITRUST's security assurance guidelines to help providers meet various federal and state health information security requirements in a cost-effective manner.

The Wisconsin Health Information Organization has launched the WHIO Health Analytics Exchange, which will enable analysis of healthcare cost and quality issues.

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) introduced a bill to provide health IT loans to small physician offices administered by the Small Business Administration.

Barring many challenges, including a sustainable business model, health information exchanges across the country are making it work.

Many state e-health collaboratives around the country are gearing up for submitting their operational plans for the health information exchange (HIE) portion of the federal stimulus funds under the HITECH Act. New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) is no exception. With a new executive director leading the not-for-profit corporation, however, NYeC is at an "important crossroads" for what its next steps will be, according to Carol Raphael, its board chair.