Health Research Initiative Awarded, Encourages Innovation

A new federal initiative awarded about $5 million to health information technology groups Wednesday as part of a growing effort to make the research field more competitive. The Investing in Innovations (i2) Initiative, recently formed by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), will ramp up competition for research and development in the health IT field by awarding prizes for creative problem-solving.

"It [i2] opens the door to new opportunities for open collaboration from a wide range of diverse individuals and organizations that will increase the national rate of innovation and adoption of health IT as we improve health care of all Americans," said Farzad Mostashari, the national coordinator for health information technology in a release...