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When Stacey Whiteman was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two years ago, she didn’t realize the toughest challenge would be its impact on her brain. The 53-year-old from Massachusetts was forced to quit work as an executive assistant after becoming easily confused and prone to forget, even about priorities like doctor appointments. When her physician suggested OpenNotes, an electronic portal allowing patients full access to their medical records, including doctors’ notes, Whiteman was eager to log on. (Belisomo, 2/24)

The Defense Department has eliminated PricewaterhouseCoopers and its bid partners from contention for a 10-year, $11 billion contract to modernize its electronic health-record system. The consultancy acknowledged in a statement that its bid is out of the running. The consulting firm last month created a buzz by name-dropping Google as a partner on its proposal to build the new Defense Department EHR system on the open-source code for the Veterans Affairs Department's VistA system. The bid team also included EHR vendors DSS and MedSphere, and systems integrator General Dynamics Information Technology. (Tahir, 2/24)