A new treatment for Barrett's esophagus, a pre-cancerous condition associated with chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease, which may prevent esophageal cancer, was performed at Longview (Texas) Regional Medical Center's physician surgery center, according to a report in the Longview News-Journal.

Melville, N.Y.-based Sequel Systems, a service-oriented healthcare technology company, announced the launch and general availability of SequelMed Patient Portal, a new, Web-based tool that is designed to improve communication between physicians and patients, giving patients instant access to their personal…

Orthopedic surgeons, cardiac surgeons and cardiologists in San Antonio have been receiving payments of $65-$6,000 for collaborating with the five-hospital Baptist Health System in a CMS demonstration project to reduce the cost of medical devices, according to a report by…

A new Web site from Virginia Health Information will allow patients to see the prices for procedures at various locations of service, including ASCs and hospitals, according to a report in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas reached an agreement to train around 170 medical residents at two Austin hospitals that are part of the Seton Family of Hospitals, according to a report in The Dallas Morning News.

Iowa Health System, the largest integrated health system in the state, and Allscripts have launched a program to convert a majority of Iowa's physicians from paper prescriptions to electronic ones in order to cut down on costly medical errors, according…

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology has begun accepting applications from HIT vendors for preliminary certification of electronic health record products for hospitals that will be eligible for funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to a…

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that healthcare professionals have a "long way to go in a very short time" in order to implement electronic medical records by 2013, according to a report in the Kansas…

Six IT tools are compatible with the American Hospital Association's upcoming initiative to monitor hospitals' experience with recovery audit contractors, according to the AHA's RACTrac Web site.

HealthSouth CEO Jay Grinney said the company's "digital hospital," which it abandoned six years ago, after putting $225 million into it, was "a very bad business decision" for HealthSouth, according to a report in the Birmingham (Ala.) News.