Healthcare IT systems developer Cerner has opened a new office inDublin, Ireland, to expand its commercial presence in the country.

As part of a plan to boost the use of health IT, Wisconsin may soonchange its health data privacy rules to make it easier fororganizations to transfer non-HIPAA covered information without apatient’s consent.

The FDA, as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,is requesting nearly $2.4 billion to protect and promote public healthas part of President George W. Bush’s fiscal year 2009 budget—a5.7 percent increase over the budget that the FDA received for thecurrent fiscal year.

Hospital quality continues to improve while patient mortality rates andcosts are declining among participants in a Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services pay-for-performance (P4P) demonstrationproject, according to an analysis by the Premier healthcare alliance.

IMAGINE Software and Data Media Associates have teamed up to offerclients address automation while eliminating manual data entry throughIMAGINEradiology, a practice management system.

President George W. Bush in his fiscal year 2009 budget proposal has requested $66 million for the Office of theNational Coordinator for Health IT (ONCHIT), a slight increase from the$61.3 million the office received in FY 2008.

Two large health insurance companies are helping physicians move out of the doctor’s office to virtual house calls.

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology(CCHIT) is inviting EHR vendors to apply for participation in the 2008Pilot Test to be held from March 17 through April 2, in preparation forthe July 1 launch of its 2008 EHR certification program.