An event held in Washington D.C on June 14, 2018 convened by the Duke-Robert J. Margolis, MD, Center for Health Policy at Duke University https://healthpolicy.duke.edu and supported by a cooperative agreement with FDA https://www.fda.gov, focused on the topic “Understanding the Development Challenges Associated with Emerging Non-Traditional Antibiotics”. (more…)
Using Tele-ICU to Monitor Patients
The Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System (EOVAHCS) https://www.muskogee.va.gov serves veterans in a 25 county region with facilities in Tulsa and other rural communities in the state. EOVAHACS and the Cincinnati VA Medical Center’s https://www.cincinnati.va.gov tele-ICU Monitoring Center have partnered to help veterans in Oklahoma in the ICU and the emergency department have access to 24/7 remote patient monitoring. (more…)
Texas Clinics Receive $10 Million
The Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF) http://www.episcopalhealth.org in Houston Texas, recently awarded grants totaling $10 million to community-based clinics across the state. The goal is to strengthen the clinics and organizations in the state to provide a wider range of health services in an increased effort to identify and prevent the underlying causes of poor health in local communities. (more…)
Effectively Treating Chronic Pain
Evidation Health https://evidation.com is contributing up to one million to the “Digital Signals in Chronic Pain Project”, a 10,000 person chronic pain study to quantify real-life outcomes in chronic pain patients who can contribute to the opioid addiction epidemic. Finding effective treatment options for pain is complicated by the fact that each person can experience chronic pain in a different way. (more…)
Studying Remote Genetic Counseling
Genetic counseling for cancer patients has become the standard of care at academic medical centers. However, patients cared for at community-based medical practices in the U.S may not always have access to genetic counseling. (more…)
Letter Sent to the HHS Secretary
In 2017, HHS delivered the report titled “Cyber Threat Preparedness Report” (CTPR) as required in Section 405 of the “Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015” (CISA) to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce https://energycommerce.house.gov and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions https://www.help.senate.gov.
Bipartisan Senators and Congressmen sent a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar https://www.hhs.gov on June 5, 2018, asking for clarification on several issues related to specific aspects of the report.
According to the letter, the CTPR report was intended to clarify HHS’s internal roles, responsibilities, and preparedness to address cyber threats in the healthcare section. The CTPR does provide a high level overview of the cybersecurity responsibilities for each HHS office and operating divisions, but there are a few details as to the specific office that might be responsible to handle cybersecurity incidents that may occur.
For example, if the cyber incident also compromised medical devices, would the FDA https://www.fda.gov need to respond as well? Also, would it be appropriate for one HHS operating division or office to share information with each other?
The authors of the letter, are also not clear as to how HHS would establish the Healthcare Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (HCCIC). Congress seeks clarity on how the HCCIC would fit into the larger healthcare cybersecurity picture and if the Center might duplicate work by other entities such as the Department of Homeland Security’s NCCIC Center or the DHS National Health-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NH-ISAC).
The letter was signed by Lamar Alexander, Chairman, Senate, Committee in Health, Education, Labor, and Pension, and Patty Murray, Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Also signing were Greg Walden, Chairman, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Frank Pallone Jr, Member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Go to https://energycommerce.house.gov/wp content/upleads/2018/06/201806/o5HHS.pdf to view the letter.
Patient Matching Updated
The Sequoia Project https://sequoiaproject.org along with a stakeholder workgroup has examined and revised best practices for patient matching occurring between health information exchange partners. The document titled “A Framework for Cross-Organizational Patient Identity Management 2018” features a matching maturity model, a detailed case study, and specific practices for a national patient matching framework. (more…)