Author Archives: Mike Squires

About Mike Squires

Mike Squires is a marketing and sales executive with 12 years focused on e-Healthcare initiatives that helped physicians change the way they work for better patient care. Experienced in introducing new online products to physicians, healthcare professionals, and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries with innovative sales and marketing strategies at start-up and traditional healthcare publishers. Helped position Medscape as the market leader to the industry and accelerate e-product offerings of Elsevier’s International Medical News Group and F-D-C Reports. Directed marketing, sales, client relations, sales support, and implementation of medical education and promotion programs. Entrepreneurial and enthusiastic; excellent mentor and motivator.

White House Blog–Going Beyond Paper and Pencil: Investments in Health IT

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Going Beyond Paper and Pencil: Investments in Health IT
Posted on The White House Blog by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius,  Secretary of Health and Human Services, on February 12, 2010 at 05:00 PM EST

“Keeping track of huge piles of paperwork is not an easy task for anyone. Imagine doing that for our entire health care system. In effect, that is what is going on with our current paper and pencil system of medical record keeping — until now.
 
“At the Department of Health and Human Services, part of our mission is to ensure quality health care for all Americans. And today I am excited to announce that we are delivering on this in the form of over $750 million in new grants that are part of a federal initiative to build capacity to enable widespread meaningful use of health IT, helping doctors adopt electronic medical records.
 
“As part of the Recovery Act, the legislation President Obama signed into law last year to help strengthen the economy, these grants benefit both patients and doctors by cutting costs, eliminating paperwork, and helping doctors deliver high-quality, coordinated care. They also help eliminate errors that come with having a paper and pencil system and save patients from having to fill out the same form dozens of times.
 
“You can find examples of this from across the country.  At one health system, they used electronic health records to identify older women who hadn’t received an osteoporosis screening and mail them personal letters encouraging them to get screened.  Screenings went up 300%. 
 
“At another health system, only a third of their diabetes patients were receiving the recommended foot and eye exams.  They started tracking these patients using electronic health records, and within five months, the share of patients getting the recommended exams doubled to around two out of three.
 
“Yet despite all these benefits, only 20 percent of doctors and 10 percent of hospitals have even basic electronic health records today.  That’s because even though many doctors around the country can see the potential benefits, there are also obstacles.
 
“That’s where these grants come in. We want to spread the benefits of health information technology to our entire health care system. Led by our National Coordinator for Health IT, Dr. David Blumenthal, our grants team has identified major areas where we can begin to implement new technology to make delivering health care more efficient and more effective. Read Dr. Blumenthal’s blog about it here.
 
“Electronic health records will provide major technological innovation to our current health care system by allowing doctors to work together to make sure patients get the right care at the right time and want to be clear that in all our Health IT investments, patient privacy is our top priority.”

Blumenthal Letter #9: Advancing Health Information Exchange

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Blumenthal Update Letter #9:
Advancing Health Information Exchange 
emailed from ONC February 12, 2010  

Dr. David Blumenthal

 A Message from Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology  

Today we announce the first cooperative agreement awards authorized by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.  It marks a major milestone in our journey towards nationwide adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (health IT).   One set of awards provides $386 million to 40 States and qualified State-Designated Entities to rapidly build capacity for exchanging health information across the health care system both within and between states through the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program. The other awards provide $375 million to create 32 Regional Extension Centers (RECs) that will support the efforts of health professionals, starting with priority primary care providers, to become meaningful users of electronic health records (EHRs). Additional awards will be made in both programs over the coming weeks. Together, these programs will help modernize the use of health information, improving the quality and efficiency of care for all Americans. 

As part of the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program, states will play a leadership role in achieving HIE to meet health reform goals. The funds awarded will be used to establish and implement plans for statewide HIE by creating the appropriate governance, policies, and technical services required to support HIE. Developing this state-level capability will help us break down the   current barriers to HIE and help providers to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentives under the HITECH Act. The awards will also strongly encourage states to consider participating in the Nationwide Health Information Network as an approach to HIE.  This would create a pathway toward seamless, nationwide health information exchange. 

While the State HIE awards will strengthen capacity for health information exchange, the Health Information Technology Extension Program awards will establish RECs to deliver direct outreach, education, and technical assistance services to health care providers in their regions. Each REC will focus most intensively on the physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who work as part of individual and small group primary care practices, as well as those who dedicate themselves to providing health care to the underserved. Primary care providers in small practices provide the great majority of such services in the U.S. but have limited resources to implement, meaningfully use, and maintain EHR systems. On-site technical assistance for these priority primary care providers will be a key service offered by the RECs.   RECs will assist providers who have not adopted EHRs, as well as those who have but need help progressing to meaningful use.  Regional extension centers will also help providers keep health information private and secure. 

The Health Information Technology Extension Program and the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program are critical components to the end of a nation-wide interoperable, private and secure electronic health information system.  I look forward to working in collaboration with each state and REC as they establish their programs, begin work within their communities, and promote the transformation of our health care system. I applaud each awarded entity for its dedication to the mission of improving the quality of health care and for the leadership and guidance it will provide. 

Sincerely,
David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P.
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) encourages you to share this information as we work together to enhance the quality, safety and value of care and the health of all Americans through the use of electronic health records and health information technology.  

For more information and to receive regular updates from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, please subscribe to our Health IT News list.

ONC Releases Appointments: Director of Economic Analysis, Chief Scientist

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Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Economic Analysis and Modeling  

Melinda Beeuwkes Bunton, PhD

Melinda Beeuwkes Bunton, PhD Director, Office of Economic Analysis

 Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin, Ph.D., is the Director of the ONC’s Office of Economic Analysis and Modeling.  In that role she seeks to:    

  • Use economic analysis and models to describe and understand the factors driving: a) the adoption, meaningful use, and interoperability of EHRs; and b) information exchange.
     
  • Generate reports, data, and strategies to measure ONC’s progress towards its goals and to help ONC achieve those goals.  Provide consultation on methodologies and metrics for the design and evaluation of ONC grants, contracts, and programs.
     
  • Contribute to ONC’s regulatory processes and policy-development activities involving the analysis of costs, benefits, market forces, and other economic issues.
     
  • Represent ONC in departmental discussions involving health policy, economics, and data analysis and policies/reforms that would leverage Health IT and in the broader health economics and health services research community.

Dr. Buntin was previously deputy director of RAND Health’s Economics, Financing, and Organization Program, director of Public Sector Initiatives for RAND Health, and co-director of the Bing Center for Health Economics.  Her research at RAND focused on insurance benefit design, health insurance markets, provider payment, and the care use and needs of the elderly.  Her most recent projects included: an analysis of the best way to design a national health insurance pooling system or “connector;” a study of the effects of consumer-directed health care on health care access, costs, and quality involving over 40 employers offering consumer-directed plans; and an NIA-funded study of the effects of Medicare payment changes on post-acute care costs and outcomes.  Dr. Buntin has also worked on projects and published in the areas of disease management, the market for individual health insurance, Medicare payment for post-acute care, the financing of end-of-life care, physician payment, and Medicare managed care plan design and payment. She graduated from the Ph.D. Program in Health Policy at Harvard University where she concentrated in health economics and specialized in the economics of the Medicare program.

Charles P. Friedman, PhD.
Chief Scientific Officer  

Charles P. Friedman, PhD

Charles P. Friedman, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer

Charles P. Friedman, PhD. is currently the Chief Scientific Officer for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  As ONC’s chief scientist, he leads a group responsible for tracking and promoting innovation in health IT, for research programs to improve technology, for applications of health IT that support basic and clinical research, for evaluation of all of ONC’s programs, for programs to develop the health IT workforce, and for activities supporting global eHealth.  Dr. Friedman served as Deputy National Coordinator for two years prior to assuming his new position.  He was lead author of the national Health IT Strategic Plan released in June of 2008.
 
Prior to joining ONC, Dr. Friedman was Associate Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. In this capacity, he founded the Center for Research Informatics and Information Technology, and functioned as the Institute’s Chief Information Officer. Dr. Friedman first joined NIH in 2003, as a Senior Scholar at the National Library of Medicine. From 1996 to 2003, Dr. Friedman was Professor and Associate Vice Chancellor for Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh where he established a health sciences-wide Center for Biomedical Informatics, a well-funded program of informatics research, and masters and doctoral degree programs in biomedical informatics. He also served as Chief Information Officer for the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences. 

Dr. Friedman obtained bachelors and masters degrees in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and also received a PhD in education from the University of North Carolina (UNC). He wrote his first computer program in 1966.  He spent over 19 years on the medical school faculty at UNC and served as Assistant Dean for Medical Education and Informatics. In 1985, he established the Laboratory for Computing and Cognition at UNC and, in 1992, started UNC’s medical informatics training program. 

Dr. Friedman has written extensively for scientific journals, and authored a well-known textbook.  He is a past president of the American College of Medical Informatics, and was the 2005 chair of the Annual Symposium of the American Medical Informatics Association. He currently serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 

Office of the Deputy National Coordinator for Operations
Lis Handley (Acting): Handley is succeeding Dr. Friedman. 

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Note: While Dr. Friedman has been working as Chief Scientific Officer since late in 2009, and his role acknowleged as such, the position was formally place on the ONC site on February 12, 2010.

The Secretary of HHS is responsible for naming the Chief Privacy Officer by February 17, 2010.

HHS, Labor Announce $1Billion in Grants to Support Health IT and Training: 40 HIEs, 32 RECs and Job Training

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Sebelius, Solis Announce Nearly $1 Billion Recovery Act Investment in Advancing Use of Health IT, Training Workers for Health Jobs of the Future

Grant Awards to Help Make Health IT Available to Over 100,000 Health Providers by 2014, Support Tens of Thousands of Jobs Nationwide
Press Release from HHS on February 12, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis today announced a total of nearly $1 billion in Recovery Act awards to help health care providers advance the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (IT) and train workers for the health care jobs of the future. The awards will help make health IT available to over 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians by 2014 and train thousands of people for careers in health care and information technology. This Recovery Act investment will help grow the emerging health IT industry which is expected to support tens of thousands of jobs ranging from nurses and pharmacy techs to IT technicians and trainers.

The over $750 million in HHS grant awards Secretary Sebelius announced today are part of a federal initiative to build capacity to enable widespread meaningful use of health IT. This assistance at the state and regional level will facilitate health care providers’ efforts to adopt and use electronic health records (EHRs) in a meaningful manner that has the potential to improve the quality and efficiency of health care for all Americans. Of the over $750 million investment, $386 million will go to 40 states and qualified State Designated Entities (SDEs) to facilitate health information exchange (HIE) at the state level, while $375 million will go to an initial 32 non-profit organizations to support the development of regional extension centers (RECs) that will aid health professionals as they work to implement and use health information technology – with additional HIE and REC awards to be announced in the near future. RECs are expected to provide outreach and support services to at least 100,000 primary care providers and hospitals within two years.

“Health information technology can make our health care system more efficient and improve the quality of care we all receive,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. “These grant awards, the first of their kind, will help develop our electronic infrastructure and give doctors and other health care providers the support they need as they adopt this powerful technology.”

The more than $225 million in DOL grant awards Secretary Solis announced will be used to train 15,000 people in job skills needed to access careers in health care, IT and other high growth fields. Through existing partnerships with local employers, the recipients of these grants have already identified roughly 10,000 job openings for skilled workers that likely will become available in the next two years in areas like nursing, pharmacy technology and information technology. The grants will fund 55 separate training programs in 30 states to help train people for secure, well-paid health jobs and meet the growing employment demand for health workers. Employment services will be available via the Department of Labor’s local One Stop Career Centers, and training will be offered at community colleges and other local education providers.

“The Recovery Act’s investments are making a positive difference in the lives of America’s working families,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “The investments announced today will ensure thousands of workers across the nation can receive high-quality training and employment services, which will lead to good jobs in healthcare and other industries offering career-track employment and good pay and benefits.”

The HHS and DOL awards are part of an overall $100 billion investment in science, innovation and technology the Administration is making through the Recovery Act to spur domestic job creation in growing industries and lay a long-term foundation for economic growth. In addition to the 10,000 jobs the DOL grantees expect to fill with freshly trained workers, the health IT extension centers are expected to hire over 3,000 technology workers nationwide in the months ahead. Overall, the Administration investments in health IT and training will help significantly expand an emerging industry expected to support tens of thousands of secure, well-paid jobs nationwide.

A complete listing of the state HIE, REC and job training grant recipients is as follows:

State HIE Awards:

State HIE Awardee Award Amount
Alabama Medicaid Agency $10,564,789
Arizona Governor’s Office of Economic Recovery $9,377,000
Arkansas Dept of Finance and Administration $7,909,401
California Health and Human Services Agency $38,752,536
Colorado Regional Health Information Organization $9,175,777
Delaware Health Information Network $4,680,284
Government of the District of Columbia $5,189,709
Georgia Department of Community Health $13,003,003
Office of the Governor (Guam) $1,600,000
The Hawaii Health Information Exchange $5,602,318
Illinois Department of Health care and Family Services $18,837,639
Kansas Health Information Exchange Project $9,010,066
Cabinet for Health and Family Services (Kentucky) $9,750,000
State of Maine/Governor’s Office of Health Policy & Finance $6,599,401
Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation $10,599,719
Michigan Department of Health $14,993,085
Minnesota Department of Health $9,622,000
Missouri Depart of Social Services $13,765,040
Nevada Department of Health and Human Services $6,133,426
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services $5,457,856
Lovelace Clinic Foundation, New Mexico $7,070,441
New York eHealth Collaborative Inc. $22,364,782
Commonwealth of the NMI, Department of Public Health $800,000
North Carolina Department of State Treasurer $12,950,860
Ohio Health Information Partnership LLC $14,872,199
Oklahoma Health Care Authority $8,883,741
Pacific Ecommerce Development Corporation (American Samoa) $600,000
State of Oregon $8,579,992
Governor’s Office of Health Care Reform Commonwealth of Pennsylvania $17,140,446
Oticina del Gobernador La Fortaeza (Puerto Rico) $7,770,980
Rhode Island Quality Institute $5,280,000
State of Tennessee $11,664,580
Utah Department of Health $6,296,705
Vermont Department of Human Services $5,034,328
Virgin Islands Department of Health $1,000,000
Virginia Department of Health $11,613,537
Health Care Authority (Washington) $11,300,000
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources $7,819,000
Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services $9,441,000
Office of the Governor (Wyoming) $4,873,000
Total Award Amount $385,978,640

Note: Per ONC Web site: “Over the next several weeks the remaining cooperative agreements will be awarded to approved applicants; these awardees will join the 40 awardees announced today in advancing mechanisms for health information sharing in their states and across the country.”

Regional Extension Center Awards:
(For an interactive map on geography covered by REC Awards, click here and go to bottom of page.)

RECs Awardee Award Amount
Altarum Institute, Michigan $19,619,990
Arkansas Foundation For Medical Care $7,400,000
CIMRO of Nebraska $6,647,371
Colorado RHIO $12,475,000
District of Columbia Primary Care Association $5,488,437
Fund for Public Health New York $21,754,010
Greater Cincinnati HealthBridge (Ohio-Kentucky) $9,738,000
Health Choice Network, Inc.,Florida $8,500,000
HealthInsight, Utah-Nevada $6,917,783
Iowa IFMC $5,508,019
Kansas Foundation for Medical Care Inc. $7,000,000
Key Health Alliance (Stratis Health), Minnesota – North Dakota $19,000,000
Lovelace Clinic, New Mexico $6,175,000
Massachusetts Technology Park Cooperation $13,433,107
MetaStar, Inc, Wisconsin $9,125,000
Morehouse School of Medicine, Inc., Georgia $19,521,542
New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) $26,534,999
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill $13,569,169
Northern California Regional Extension Center $17,286,081
Northern Illinois University $7,546,000
Northwestern University $7,649,533
OCHIN Inc. (Primary), Oregon $13,201,499
Ohio Health Information Partnership $28,500,000
Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, Inc. $5,331,685
Purdue University $12,000,000
Qsource (Tennessee) $7,256,155
Qualis Health, Washington – Idaho $12,846,482
Rhode Island Quality Institute $6,000,000
Southern California Regional Extension Center $13,961,339
Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. $6,762,080
VHQC and the Center for Innovative Technology, for The Virginia Consortium $12,425,000
West Virginia Health Improvement Institute Inc. $6,000,000
Total Award Amount $375,173,281

 Job Training Awards:

Healthcare / High Growth Grant Recipient Award Amount
Calhoun Community College $3,470,830
Mid-South Community College $3,391,053
South Arkansas Community College $3,520,612
Kern Community College District (KCCD) $2,768,572
Los Rios Community College District $4,988,561
Mt. San Antonio Community College District $2,239,714
San Diego State University Research Foundation $4,953,575
San Jose State University Research Foundation $5,000,000
San Bernardino Community College District $4,260,863
Youth Policy Institute $3,623,473
Spanish Speaking Unity Council $3,559,139
Otero Junior College $4,999,350
National Council of La Raza $3,457,516
Providence Health Foundation of Providence Hospital $4,953,999
DeKalb Technical College (DTC) $2,043,859
Governors State University $4,994,686
Indianapolis Private Industry Council, Inc. $4,885,812
Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana $5,000,000
Iowa Workforce Development $3,403,164
Maysville Community and Technical College $2,007,637
Louisiana Technical College, Greater Acadiana Region 4 $4,859,040
Southern University at Shreveport $4,296,308
Maine Department of Labor $4,892,213
The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) $4,928,654
Macomb Community College $4,971,642
American Indian Opportunities Industrialization Center $5,000,000
Northland Community and Technical College $4,996,844
MN State Colleges & Universities DBA Pine Technical College $4,230,950
South Central College $4,506,101
The Montgomery Institute $4,519,625
Full Employment Council $4,998,344
Crowder College $3,576,760
Maryville University – St. Louis $4,699,354
University of New Hampshire $2,944,732
Passaic County Community College $4,475,041
Fulton Montgomery Community College (FMCC) $2,865,657
Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) $3,382,200
University Behavioral Associates, Inc. $5,000,000
Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida Counties $2,700,096
Goodwill Industries, Inc., Serving E. Neb and SW Iowa $2,007,846
Nevada Cancer Institute $3,262,676
Berea Children’s Home $4,927,843
BioOhio $5,000,000
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College $4,935,132
Columbus State Community College $4,605,303
Enterprise for Employment and Education $2,373,073
Trident Technical College $2,624,532
Florence-Darlington Technical College (FDTC) $4,346,351
The University of South Dakota $5,000,000
Centerstone of Tennessee, Inc. $5,000,000
North Central Texas College $4,150,005
San Jacinto Community College District $4,722,919
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) $4,655,799
Shenandoah Valley Workforce Investment Board, Inc. (SVWIB) $4,951,991
Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board $5,000,000
Total $226,929,446

Additional information about the state HIE and RECs may be found at ONC Site on State HIE Coop Program and http://healthit.hhs.gov/extensionprogram

Information about other health IT programs funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 can be found here: http://HealthIT.HHS.gov

Information about Healthcare/High Growth Grants, and other DOL training programs is available at http://www.doleta.gov/.

For more information about the Recovery Act, please visit:
www.hhs.gov/recovery ,
www.dol.gov/recovery and
http://www.recovery.gov/.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Health Information Exchange Summit: Feb 4-5, 2010

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HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE SUMMIT: Feb 4-5, 2010
http://www.hiesummit.com/at-a-glance.html
Online Attendance Registration (starts at $795 for government, academia; $1,395 for others)
Three Conference Agendas

Pre-conference summary and agenda excerpted from HIE Summit Web site.
“A variety of new federal programs directed to states, such as those related to health information exchange capacity, technical assistance to support health IT adoption for “meaningful use” and pilot projects involving public and private sector payers, have recently been launched. These developments require that state and local leaders – and the key leaders across every sector of healthcare involved in these activities – react quickly to drive for success in this new and challenging terrain, with high visibility and significant investment at stake. In addition, the foundational infrastructures built and enhanced through these investments – if well implemented – can offer foundational support for healthcare reform efforts related to improvements in both care delivery and population health.”The National Health Information Exchange Summit is designed to support national, state and local leaders in effectively navigating the challenges related to building health information exchange capacity across physician practices, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, health plans, to support care delivery and improvements in population health. Participants will learn about emerging trends and policies that will impact their programs and will receive recommendations about how to respond, alternative strategies being employed across the field and their effectiveness, and best practices for deployment in the following key areas:  –Designing and employing good governance practices to drive success
–Building in a sustainable model to support efforts when the grant money runs out
–Developing and employing good policies and practices related to privacy and security to comply with new laws and rules, and build trust within your community
–Navigating the numerous technical options–and deciding which strategy is right for your community
–Aligning state and local efforts to maximize impact and success
–Successfully employing good procurement policies to achieve outcomes
–Designing communication and engagement policies and practices to facilitate transparency and trust across stakeholder groups and with the public

“Through a combination of carefully selected keynote presentations, small workshops and networking sessions, participants will significantly expand their knowledge base and build a network of support for future dialogue. The National Health Information Exchange Summit is a must-attend event for any federal, state or local leader – across the range of stakeholder groups – who are either leading or participating in initiatives related to the use of health IT and health information exchange to improve health and healthcare.” 

AGENDA
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2010
Joint Plenary Session 8 AM – 12 PM
–Aneesh Chopra, US CTO, The White House
–David Blumenthal, National Coordinator, HHS
–Carolyn Clancy, MD, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
–Troyen Brennan, EVP and CMO, CVS Caremark
–J. Marc Overhage, President and CEO, IHIE
–Sue McAndrew, Dep. Director for Health Information Privacy, Office for Civil Rights, HHS
–Steven J Stack, MD, Emergency Physician, AMA Trustee
–Reed Tuckson, EVP and Chief Medical Affairs, UnitedHealthGroup

Plenary Session 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM
–John Glaser, Senior Advisor, ONC
–Bruno Nardone, Assoc. Partner, IBM Global Business Services
Track Sessions 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2010
Closing Plenary Session 8:00 AM – 12 PM
–Michael Rapp, CMS—Director, Quality Measurement and Health Assessment Group, Office of Clinical Standards and Quality
–John Halamka, CIO, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
–Mark Frisse, MD, MBA, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt
–J. Marc Overhage, President and CEO, IHIE; Dir., Medical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute
–David Cochran, Pres and CEO, Vermont Information Technology Leaders
–Keith Hepp, CFO and VP, BusDev, Healthbridge
–William Rollow, MD, MPH,  Health Care Value and Transformation, IBM Global Business Services
–Arthur Glasgow, Sr VP, Gen’l Mgr, Health Information Networks, Ingenix

NJ HIT Commission Cancels Feb 11, 2010 meeting; will reschedule

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NJ HIT Commission to cancels Thur, Feb 11, 2010 meeting
New Jersey Health IT Commission has cancelled it meeting  scheduled for Thursday, February 11, 2010, and will set a time to meet later in February due to weather-related travel issues. Three national summits were going on in Washington, DC the first week in February which initially led to scheduling commission meeting second week of February instead of the usual first Thursday of month. The national meetings focused on HIPAA, Health IT for Government leaders, and Health Information Exchange. More info on those conferences to come.

HIT Policy and Standards Committee Workgroups’ Deliberations to be Made Publicly Available

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HIT Policy and Standards Committee Workgroups’
Deliberations to be Made Publicly Available
Excerpted from email notice of Jan 25, 2010

“In the interest of transparency, starting in January 2010, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is making available to the public the HIT Policy Committee and the HIT Standards Committee workgroups’ deliberations.  

“All workgroup meetings will be available via webcast; for instructions on how to listen via telephone or Web visit http://healthit.hhs.gov. (Note that the majority of the workgroups’ meetings will be available both via phone or web, except when indicated otherwise.)

“Please check the ONC website for additional information as it becomes available since any last minute additions or modifications to previously announced workgroup meetings cannot always be published in the Federal Register to provide timely notice.

“In addition, audio files (.mp3) of FACA Committee meetings and the workgroup meetings will be available on the ONC website within 24 to 48 hours following the conclusion of each meeting.  A draft transcript of the meetings will be available within 5 to 8 business days. All transcripts will be marked and considered “draft” until they are reviewed and approved by the committee or workgroup members.” 

Contact Person: Judy Sparrow, Office of the National Coordinator,  email: judy.sparrow@hhs.gov  Please reach the contact person or visit the ONC website for up-to-date information on these meetings.
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HIT Policy Committee Meetings Page
HIT Standards Committee Meeting Page

Patient-Centered e-Health Summit: Feb 3, 2010

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Patient-Centered e-Health Conference: Feb 3, 2010
Join HIMSS New Jersey Chapter and Stevens Institute of Technology for a half-day conference in which thought leaders and innovators will share their insights and debate how
–mobile clinics and telemedicine for rural and  underserved populations,
–remote health monitoring and IT-enabled chronic disease management, and
–personalized Internet communications & social networks
will (or will not) help achieve the dual healthcare reform goals of lower costs and higher quality outcomes.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010,
noon to 6pm, (includes buffet lunch)
plus 6pm Networking
Pre-registration required 
http://www.njhimss.org/calendar/calendar2.html#NJSTEV

Stevens Institute of Technology campus in Hoboken, NJ
(on the Hudson River directly opposite mid-town Manhattan,
accessible by PATH train or ferry, car, Newark Airport taxi/rail)

AGENDA   (pdf version)
12:00Noon: Check-in and buffet lunch

1:00 pm:  Welcome from Stevens and NJHIMSS 

1:05 pm: Theme: Access to Experts Anywhere
Real-Time Consults and On-Demand Education Across the Globe
     John Riel, President, Medical Missions for Children  
Connectivity Issues in Emerging Nations
     Steven Landman, Entrepreneur, Carego International and LiveWellWireless
Distance Health: From Critical Care to the Home
     Joseph A. Tracy, VP, Telehealth Services, Lehigh Valley Health Network
Panel Discussion moderated by Stevens faculty plus
–Jeb Weisman, NYC Children’s Fund, IT Support Challenges for Mobile Clinics
–Ed Eichhorn, President, Medilink Consulting Group
–Ray Burke, AT&T Healthcare Solutions Practice

2:15 pm: Keynote on Patient-Centered E-Health and U.S. Health Reform
     Paul H. Keckley, PhD, Executive Director
     Deloitte Center for Health Solutions

3:30pm Theme: Disease Management with Patient Involvement
Ethnographic Design Approaches for People-Centered Devices
      Scott Laidlaw, Market Development Manager, Intel Digital Health Group: Kathleen Albright, Strategic Account Manager, GE Healthcare
Patient-Centric Approaches for Post-Acute Care
      John Derr, CIO, Golden Living
The Consumer Perspective: Who, What, When, Where, and Why
      Kim Slocum, President, KDS Consulting and Book Author:
     “Consumer Directed Health Care”
Panel Discussion moderated by Stevens faculty plus
–Jim Tosone, Director & Team Lead, Healthcare Informatics, Pfizer
     –A Pharmaceutical Company Initiative Highlights
–Douglas Ratner, MD, Chairman and Program Director, LibertyHealth System
     –Chair, NJ Disease Management Study Commission: Report Highlights
–Leonard Pogach, MD, Director, Center for Healthcare Knowledge Management, VA-NJ Healthcare System, and Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine, UMDNJ
     –VA Disease Registries and Knowledge Management Initiative Highlights
–Michael McGuire, CEO, UnitedHealthCare of New Jersey [or designee]

5:00 pm: Theme:  IT-Enabled Patient Engagement
Social Networking at Juvenation:  The First Year Lessons
      James Szmak, CIO, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
User-Generated Health Data: Tackling the Integrity Issues
     Sally Okun, RN, PatientsLikeMe
Panel Discussion moderated by Stevens faculty plus
–Thomas Gregorio, VP and CIO, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
     –Social Media Challenges from a Hospital CIO Perspective Highlights
–Helen Oscislawski, Attorney, Fox Rothschild LLP
     –Social Media Issues from a Legal Perspective Highlights

5:55 pm: Wrapup

6:00 to 7:00 pm: Networking Reception
      Babbio Center Atrium

Please sign up today
$135 for conference participation
Pre-registration required 
http://www.njhimss.org/calendar/calendar2.html#NJSTEV

This program is sponsored by NJHIMSS, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Howe School of Technology Management. 
The conference is produced by Carol Brown, PhD, Distinguished Professor and Program Director, Howe School of Technology Management, Stevens Institute of Technology, joined by NJHIMSS members Al Campanella, VP-CIO, Virtua Health; Tony Ferrante, Director, Bus Dev-Healthcare, Computer Design & Integration LLC; and Mike Squires, Director, Marketing & Communications, BluePrint Healthcare IT.

HIT Policy Cmte Meeting: Jan 13, 2009

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HIT Policy Commmittee Meeting: Jan 13, 2009
Washington, DC
Agenda and Meeting Materials
Meeting Materials:

AGENDA (pdf version)
10:00 a.m. CALL TO ORDER – Judy Sparrow
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
10:05 a.m. Opening Remarks – David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
10:15 a.m. Review of the Agenda – Paul Tang, Vice Chair of the Committee
10:20 a.m. Overview of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on EHR Incentive Program for Medicare and Medicaid
     – Tony Trenkle, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
     – Farzad Mostashari, Office of the National Coordinator
10:45 a.m. Preliminary Thoughts/Discussion on the NPRM
     – Paul Tang, Vice Chair leads discussion
11:30 a.m. LUNCH BREAK
12:30 p.m. Overview of the Interim Final Rule (IFR) on Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for EHRs
     – Farzad Mostashari, ONC
     – Doug Fridsma, ONC
     – Jodi Daniel, ONC
1:00 p.m. Preliminary Thoughts/Discussion on the IFR
     – Paul Tang, Vice Chair leads discussion
1:30 p.m. NHIN Workgroup: Recommendations
     – David Lansky, Chair
     – Daniel Weitzner, Co-Chair
2:30 p.m. HIT Strategic Framework: Preliminary Discussion
     – Paul Tang, Chair
     – Jodi Daniel, Co-chair
3:00 p.m. Public Comment
3:15 p.m. Adjourn

To participate:
Via WEBCAST 
AUDIO:
US toll free:   1-877-705-6006
International Direct:  1-201-689-8557
Confirmation Code: HIT Committee Meeting

ONC Technical Assistance Calls 1st Week 2010

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ONC Tech Assistance Calls Jan 4, 5, 6, 2010
(from email Jan 4, 2010)
$60 million Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) program funding is available to support four research projects designed to find solutions for health IT adoption challenges. Research will focus on areas where “breakthrough” advances are needed. The projects will be specifically designed and dedicated to overcoming health IT challenges to adoption and meaningful use and supporting the goals of the HITECH Act. Please note that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will be hosting a second Technical Assistance call for potential SHARP program applicants, TODAY, Monday, January 4 at 2:30 PM EST. Interested parties are encouraged to join the call using the following information:
To participate:
• https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/dtevents/join?id=GFFH62&role=attend&pw=S%23Ph4dP
 • Audio: Dial in number: 888-469-1244 o Participant passcode: 8113807
There will be time reserved for a Question and Answer session. A transcript of the call and the slide deck will be posted on http://healthit.hhs.gov  in the days following the call. A previous technical assistance call was held on December 22. Transcript and the PowerPoint slide presentation from the call are available at http://healthit.hhs.gov/sharp For detailed information on the SHARP program, visit http://healthit.hhs.gov/sharp

Visit http://healthit.hhs.gov/hitechgrants  for information on additional HITECH Funding Opportunity Announcements.

Additional TA calls scheduled for this week:
• Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 3:00 pm EST
The University-Based Training Program will provide approximately $32 million in assistance through competitively awarded training grants to eight or more institutions of higher education to establish programs that will rapidly increase the availability of individuals qualified to serve in specific health IT professional roles requiring university-level training.
Updated as of 12/29/09: to participate:  https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/dtevents/join?id=MW6H6S&role=attend&pw=t%2BN9%21jd
Audio: Dial in number: 877-601-4720 Participant passcode: 1414879

• Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 1:00 pm EST
The Competency Examination Program will provide approximately $6 million in assistance through a cooperative agreement to an institution of higher education to support the development and initial administration of a set of health IT competency examinations.
To participate: 
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/dt/join?id=F56QDP&role=attend&pw=xk4%3ArZ4  Audio: Dial in number: 1-888-324-4392 (toll-free)  Participant passcode: 9313506

First Time Users: To save time before the meeting, check your system to make sure it is ready to use Microsoft Office Live Meeting.