Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota introduced Care Comparison, a new online tool that customers can use to estimate the total treatment cost of dozens of common elective procedures, according to a BCBS news release.

Kaiser Permanente will cut 860 information technology jobs nationwide due to an agreement the company signed with IBM, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

A study conducted by the American College of Physician Executives showed that more healthcare organizations are using technology, but physicians are still frustrated with the new systems and do not find them user-friendly, according to a report in the Physician…

Pinnacle III — Pinnacle III specializes in turnkey operational development, operational management and revitalization for ASCs around the country and offers equity and non-equity models to joint venture and single- and multi-specialty ASCs. The company also assist centers in developing…

Surgical Notes — Surgical Notes is a national provider of medical transcription, coding and other related value-added information technology services for the ASC market. The company, led by Jeff Blankinship, provides transcription, coding and practice management solutions to more than…

MAKO Surgical Corp. will unveil its next-generation robotic arm system and implants to be used in MAKOplasty partial knee resurfacing at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeon's annual meeting, according to a MAKO news release.

The U.S. Congress set aside $19 billion to digitize healthcare records as part of the economic stimulus package, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

CIGNA Corp. plans to launch new technology called the CIGNA Cost of Care Estimator in Spring 2009, according to a CIGNA news release.

Promotion of health information technology plays a significant role in the stimulus packages under consideration in Congress. H.R. 1, the House of Representative's version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, provides incentive payments for adoption and "meaningful"…

The rate of visits to freestanding ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) tripled from 1996-2006, while the rate of visits to hospital-based surgery centers remained flat during that period, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics at…