The Veterans Affairs Department has agreed to pay $20 million to veterans affected by the loss of a laptop computer in 2006 that contained sensitive personal identification information, as part of aproposed settlementto a lawsuit filed by five veterans' organizations.

The National Center for Research Resources, a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles a grant totaling nearly $22.5 million over five years to support the Biomedical Informatics Research Network Coordinating Center at the university.

Motion Computing, a mobile computing and wireless communications computer, and Sig-Tec, an identity- and access-management software solutions company, have created a partnership to deliver solutions for mobility, information security and clinical workflow.

Cardio3 BioSciences, a cell-based biotechnology company for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, has raised 7.2 million ($9.28 million, U.S.) in a series B fund raising round and a further 6.5 million ($8.39 million, U.S.) in cash advances.

GE Healthcare IT has launched version 5.2 of its Centricity electronic data interchange services, which introduces new features in healthcare claims and payments process.

Hospitals are stopping or postponing projects that could improve community healthcare and increase jobs, according to a survey from the American Hospital Association (AHA). The survey also found that the recession is making it difficult for hospitals to obtain funding for facility improvements or healthcare IT purchases.

Siemens Healthcare posted higher-than-expected profits in the fiscal first quarter of 2009, which ended Dec. 31, 2008, compared to the fiscal first quarter of 2008.

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.