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September 02, 2010
Cincinnati, Detroit selected as final health IT pilot communities under innovative HHS Recovery Act Beacon Program
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that Cincinnati and Detroit are the two final pilot communities selected under the new Beacon Community Program that is using health information technology to help tackle leading health problems in communities across the country.

September 01, 2010
BARDA funds development of new way to treat illness from acute radiation
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) today awarded a $153 million contract to Cellerant Therapeutics, Inc. of San Carlos, Calif., to continue developing a new way to treat an illness caused by exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation which can damage the body’s cells – the type of radiation that would come from a nuclear blast.

September 01, 2010
HHS Awards $17 Million for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced three sets of grants and cooperative agreements totaling nearly $17 million for patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR), or research that compares treatments and strategies to improve health outcomes for patients.

August 31, 2010
Nearly 2,000 employers and unions approved into new program
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced the first round of applicants accepted into the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program.  Nearly 2,000 employers, representing large and small businesses, State and local governments, educational institutions, non-profits, and unions have been accepted into the program and will begin to receive reimbursements for employee claims this fall.

August 30, 2010
Sebelius announces 1 million Medicare beneficiaries have received prescription drug cost relief under the Affordable Care Act
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that more than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries have received prescription drug cost relief through the Affordable Care Act.

August 30, 2010
Initial EHR Certification Bodies Named
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), Chicago, Ill. and the Drummond Group Inc. (DGI), Austin, Texas, were named today by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as the first technology review bodies that have been authorized to test and certify electronic health record (EHR) systems for compliance with the standards and certification criteria that were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year.

August 30, 2010
BARDA funds drug development for biothreats, antibiotic resistance
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) today awarded a contract to develop an antibiotic that could be used against possible two types of bioterrorism as well as common infections that are becoming resistant to antibiotics.

August 26, 2010
Attorney General Holder and HHS Secretary Sebelius host second regional health care fraud prevention summit in Los Angeles
Today Attorney General Eric Holder and U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius kicked off the second in a series of daylong summits bringing together a wide array of federal, state and local partners, beneficiaries, providers and other interested parties to discuss innovative ways to eliminate fraud within the U.S. health care system.

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