HIT: HHS awards contracts for interoperability pilots

Four big IT companies have won federal contracts to create interoperable regional networks. The Department of Health and Human Services awarded contracts worth $18.6 million to Accenture, IBM, Northrup Grumann and Computer Sciences Corp. yesterday. All four companies have said they will make "major" investments of their own as part of the project. Some observers believe the contacts will give the companies an edge as the market for electronic medical records matures, but there remains considerable uncertainty about what the "market" for interoperability actually will be.

- see this article in BusinessWeek
- see the press release from HHS