Patient information-sharing network under development by VA, Defense

The Washington Post reports on how this emerging electronic health record system is impacting the marketplace. In other Health IT news, the Twin Cities' market appears to be full of "early adopters" of online care services, according to the Pioneer Press.

The Washington Post/Bloomberg: VA, Defense Developing Patient-Sharing System
Electronic health record vendors Epic Systems and Cerner may face competition from a joint patient information-sharing network being developed by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, analysts said. Prompted by President Obama's push for medical facilities to adopt electronic records, hospitals may pay companies to modify the open-source code likely to power the government-developed system, rather than buying commercial systems, said Ed Meagher, former Veterans Affairs deputy chief information officer (Miller, 8/14).

(Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) Pioneer Press: Physicians, Nurses Using Web, Mobile Devices To Provide Care
The Twin Cities market appears to be an early adopter of online care services, with offerings from Eagan-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and OptumHealth, a division of Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group. Forms of online care also come from the medical group at Bloomington-based HealthPartners as well as a St. Paul-based startup company called Zipnosis. But as health care providers begin to dabble in online care, it's unclear exactly what form of web medicine will prove the most popular with patients (Snowbeck, 8/13).