HHS announces the offering of incentive payments to physicians and other health professionals who use electronic prescribing technology.

Health & Human Services announced awards of more than $49 Million to 30 states for residents whose health status makes it a problem for them to get conventional health coverage.

Twelve communities have been selected to take part in a new national Medicare demonstration project using EHR incentives.  The five-year project is the first of its kind. The community areas that were selected are Alabama, Delaware, Jacksonville, FL (multi-county), Georgia, Maine, Louisiana, Maryland/Washington, DC, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, PA (multi-county), South Dakota (multi-state), Virginia, and Madison, WI (multi-county).

TheHill.com has posted an interview with Mike Leavitt, Health and Human Services Secretary.  Leavitt talks about several topics, including a new Medicare demonstration project involving small physician practices, the implementation and spread of electronic health records, and the benefits of increasing interoperability standards.