Health IT News from Federal Agencies and Capitol Hill – Edited by Carolyn Bloch
The State of Maryland is expanding telemedicine in the state to improve access to care and generate cost savings. According to the Maryland Health Care Commission’s “July 2013 Telemedicine Information Brief”, Governor Martin O’Malley in May signed into law Senate Bill 776 titled “Telemedicine Task Force –Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC)”. (more…)
HRSA Issued a Sources Sought Notice on July 19th seeking small businesses to build up data capacity in the safety net especially focusing on community health centers. The small businesses will also need to maintain, strengthen, expand, and extend the data and research infrastructure established under the Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN). (more…)
National Coordinator for HIT Farzad Mostashari M.D., appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance on July 17th to discuss the progress of health IT. He testified that as of May 2013, more than 293,000 eligible professionals and over 3,900 eligible hospitals have received payments from Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs. (more…)
On July 10, 2013, the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) at www.firstnet.gov released ten Requests for Information (RFI) to obtain input from vendors and interested stakeholders on developing the nationwide wireless broadband network. Potential vendors have been invited to provide information on the radio access network (RAN) and the core network. (more…)
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force Joint Command oversees preventive medicine and field surveillance in Afghanistan. Medical care and preventive medicine is a national responsibility but some aspects of preventive medicine such as disease surveillance affect all nations and are a shared responsibility. (more…)
The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) has issued their Strategic Plan for 2014-2018 complete with six focus areas. The focus areas include delivery system alignment and integration, payment modernization, tribal care coordination, program integrity, health information technology, and quality assessment and improvement strategies. (more…)
Researchers are using motivational multimedia coupled with positive reinforcement via a smartphone app to improve asthma outcomes among low income minority adolescents with asthma. This NIH funded study is taking place at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). The application and device was created at UIC with seed funding provided by the UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science. (more…)