Brian Robinson

The Federal Communications Commission formally adopted and forwarded to Congress a plan to significantly upgrade U.S. broadband connections that could greatly boost the adoption rate of health information technology.

Many healthcare providers in the U.S.lack sufficient broadband Internet connections to meet health IT meaningful use criteria, according to the Federal Communications Commission, which is proposing new funding and regulations to help close the gap.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is still on target to publish by the end of the year a proposed rule on the meaningful use of electronic health records, despite growing fears from industry about the possible impact of the regulation.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is looking to bridge what it sees as a yawning gap in health privacy protections with a seven-point bill of rights it hopes will push the healthcare industry to a "major paradigm shift" in patient privacy practices.

Local TV broadcasters that are part of media conglomerates such as Disney, Viacom and News Corp.'s Fox, mostly with leading O&O (owned and operated) stations in major U.S. markets, are well-positioned to negotiate adequate in-kind compensation, including further launches of branded cable networks, or increasingly, forced carriage of multiple digital streams.