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The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments are working on consent management tools that would let patients control access to their personal health information - including medication lists, lab test results and diagnoses - during health information exchanges between the two agencies.Kaiser Permanente, a partner with VA and DOD in the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) Community data-sharing project now underway in the San Diego area, will also deploy consent tools next year as a part of the multi-organization health information exchange pilot.

The Department of Health and Human Services unveiled a new Web site Thursday that officials say will help consumers take control of their healthcare, connecting them to information and resources that will help them access quality, affordable coverage.Called for by the Affordable Care Act, HHS bills HealthCare.gov as the first Web site to provide consumers with both public and private health coverage options tailored specifically for their needs with a single, easy-to-use tool.

The benefits of the National Demonstration Project on the patient-centered medical home, an initiative by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and its subsidiary TransforMED, are still being realized two years after the project ended.

Anyone who's ever languished on hold or plunged into a labyrinth of ever-expanding touchtone message options while trying to get an answer to a simple question about coverage or eligibility will appreciate the new invention from Aetna. Her name is Ann.

Catholic Health Initiatives, a Denver-based healthcare system, will hire more than 200 high-tech workers to help roll out its new clinical system across the country.The work requires an increase in a number of specialized positions - including technical analysts, clinical informaticists, engineers, managers, database administrators, application developers and also security and identification-management personnel.