Health care IT gets $139 million

The Health and Human Services Department this month announced $139 million in grants and contracts to promote the use of health IT and take the department a step closer to electronic health records for all Americans.

HHS will make more than 100 grants to communities, hospitals, providers and health care systems to improve patient safety and cut duplicative and unnecessary testing.

The new National Health Information Technology Resource Center will design a repository for best practices and aid grantees with technical assistance and a focus for collaboration.