Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius plans to announce [Monday] rules making it easier for patients to see, use and add information to their personal electronic health records.

"We want patients to take control of their own health and to make the choices easy," U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin told USA TODAY.

The first regulations are set to go into effect in October 2012 as part of the new federal health law.

The stimulus bill passed in February 2009 provides $19 billion for electronic health records, mostly as an incentive for Medicare providers.

The...

A Netflix for books. That new direction for Amazon is reportedly in discussion -- an all-you-can eat service for e-books, similar to the Netflix subscription-based service for DVDs and streaming movies or shows.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Amazon is talking with book publishers about the possibility of such a service, which would involve a regular fee, possibly annual, in exchange for the ability to use a library of e-books.

'Book-of-the-Month, Local Library'

Amazon has not commented on the story, but the Journal said some publishers were not thrilled with the idea,...

Samsung Electronics cannot sell its new Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer in Germany after a court ruled Friday that its design "too closely" resembles Apple's iPad2.

The ruling by a Duesseldorf state court, however, only applies to direct sales from the Seoul, South Korea-based company, meaning distributors who acquire the Galaxy Tab 10.1 from abroad could resell them in Germany.

Apple had taken Samsung to court over its Galaxy line, arguing their design is too close a copy of their own products.

Samsung said in a statement it will appeal the ruling, which it said "severely limits...

Nike is going back to the future. The sneaker maker on Thursday said it has created a limited-edition shoe based on a glowing pair that appeared in the popular 1989 movie "Back to the Future II." The 2011 Nike Mag is designed to be an exact replica of the fictional sneaker, including a glowing Nike name on the strap. But unlike the movie version, these shoes won't lace themselves.

Nike will release 1,500 pairs of the 2011 Nike Mag sneaker for auction on eBay and donate all proceeds to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's disease research. Fox famously played Marty McFly in the...