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HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, appearing with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, announced the Obama administration will release almost $1 billion set aside in the stimulus bill in order to aid implementation of health information technology.
Secretary Sebelius announced $386 million in grants to advance widespread adoption of EHRs at the state level, including for health information exchanges (HIEs). HHS also awarded $375 million to 32 nonprofits for Regional Extension Centers which assist providers in updating their medical record systems and train workers on such new technologies.
Secretary Solis announced around $225 million to support 55 job-training programs in 30 states which is expected to train around 15,000 people in the health records technology.
The Obama administration expects to help more than 100,000 health-care providers set up electronic medical records for their patients by 2014.
According to the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog:
Patient privacy is the top priority,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. The agency is about to appoint a chief privacy officer, and the government has strengthen [sic] the penalties for negligent security breaches for companies so they reach up to $1 million.
"Electronic Medical Records get a boost," Washington Wire (February 12, 2010).
"Obama awards money for electronic medical records," Associated Press (February 13, 2010).
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A group of 37 U.S. Senators sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius expressing concern regarding the current definition of meaningful use. The senators urged the Secretary to "allow providers to 'temporarily defer a limited set of IT goals' without otherwise changing the ultimate timeline or requirements of the program." The senators also sought to change the eligibility determination based on Medicare provider numbers, considering many healthcare providers have multiple medical campuses under one such Medicare number. According to Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), such changes would "improve the guidelines HHS has set in way that will encourage widespread use of basic, functional IT tools and improve patient care.” 
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has delegated the responsibility for administration and enforcement of the HIPAA Security Rule to the Office of Civil Rights, a division of HHS. Previously, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), another HHS division, was responsible for Security Rule administration, while OCR was tasked with administering and enforcing the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Effective immediately, OCR is responsible for administering both Security Rule and Privacy Rule, as well as all HIT privacy and security related provisions in the HITECH Act.