At Texas hospitals that have automated some aspects of their information systems, patients appear to have fewer complications, lower death rates and reduced costs, according to a report in the Jan. 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Rob Kill has been appointed as CEO of Virtual Radiologic, effective Jan. 26. Kill succeeds Co-Founder Sean Casey, MD, who will remain as chairman of the board.

The HIPAA privacy rule continues to have a negative affect on health research, and since its implementation, has imposed barriers that slow the pace of research, increase costs and hinder participation at academic medical centers, according to a new report from the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) in Washington, D.C.

The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has formally recognized three new interoperability specifications related to EHRs, personal health records and electronic quality monitoring.

Dexela Limited of London has entered into an agreement with software developer Three Palm Software to market the latter's WorkstationOne and CadOne software applications outside the United States.

Merge Healthcare has solidified sales operations for ShanghaiCo, and is now doing business as Merge China.

Zotec Partners has named Andrew Bolles as director of business development, responsible for new business development with a specific focus on radiology, anesthesia and pathology markets.

Against the backdrop of a severe global economic downturn, President Obama issued a clarion call on Tuesday for healthcare IT to take center stage in addressing the ever-growing costs of healthcare delivery.