ONC and CMS @HIMSS12 Annual Conference & Exhibition — Las Vegas

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Mike Squires

Federals at HIMSS12 Annual Conference & Exhibition
February 20-24, 2012 · Las Vegas, NV
Accessed and excerpted from HealthIT.gov on Feb 18, 2012

Representatives from ONC, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and other Federal agencies will be at HIMSS to share information about their health IT initiatives. Below are highlights from the HIMSS schedule of events. For a complete list of participating Federal agencies and their educational sessions, visit the Federal section of the HIMSS12 website.

HIMSS Schedule of Events

Time	Location	Event
Monday, February 20, 2012
8:45-9:30 a.m.	Lando 4204	HIE Symposium – Opening Keynote HIE: The Next Generation and Beyond Doug Fridsma, Director, Office of Standards and Interoperability
9:30-10:30 a.m.	Lando 4204	HIE Symposium – Inter Agency Collaboration: A Federal Update John Allison, Health Insurance Specialist Claudia Williams, Director, State HIE Program
10:45-11:45 a.m.	Lando 4204	HIE Symposium – State Collaborations: Current Trends and Future Directions Lee Stevens, Program Manager, State HIE Program
11 a.m.-12 p.m.	San Paolo 3504	Physicians’ IT Symposium – Optimizing Your EHR Value Through Patient Engagement Judy Murphy, RN, Deputy National Coordinator
12:45-1:45 p.m.	Lando 4204	HIE Symposium – SLHIE: Moving from Planning to Implementation Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT Claudia Williams, Director, State HIE Program
1-2 p.m.	Veronese 2506	Achieving Meaningful Use Symposium – CMS and ONC Present Stage 2 Essential Knowledge Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst, CMS Steven Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division, ONC
1:30-2:30 p.m.	Veronese 2406	Performance Measurement and CDS Symposium: Leveraging CDS at the Point of Care to Optimize Quality Measure Outcomes Jacob Reider, MD, ONC Senior Policy Advisor
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
9:45-10:45 a.m.	Casanova 503	Health IT Update from HRSA Yael Harris, PhD, MHS, Director, Office of Health IT & Quality
9:45-10:45 a.m.	Lando 4303	Stage 2 Meaningful Use Elizabeth Holland, Director, HIT Initiatives Group Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT
9:45-10:45 a.m.	Galileo 1001	Direct Project Panel Discussion Moderator: Doug Fridsma, Director, Office of Standards and Interoperability
9:45-10:45 a.m.	TBD	HIE National Landscape, Monitoring States Momentum Moderator: Lee Stevens, Program Manager, State HIE Program
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	Casanova 503	CDC and Meaningful Use: Strengthening the Link Between Healthcare Providers and Public Health Seth Foldy, MD, MPH, FAAFP, Senior Advisor, Public Health Surveillance & Informatics Program Office
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	Lando 4303	ONC Consumer Outreach/Pledge Initiative Lygeia Ricciardi, Senior Policy Advisor for Consumer e-Health
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	San Polo 3503	Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs: Meaningful Use Stage 1 Overview Travis Broome, Policy Analyst Elizabeth Holland, Director, HIT Initiatives Group Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst
12:15-1:15 p.m.	San Polo 3503	Redefining Health Care: Advancing Patient-Centered Care Through Health IT Carolyn Clancy, MD, Director of AHRQ
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
8:30-9:30 a.m.	San Polo 3503	ONC Certification Programs – Update and Next Steps Doug Fridsma, Director, Office of Standards and Interoperability Steve Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division Carol Bean, Director, Certification Division
9:45-10:45 a.m.	San Polo 3503	Stage 2 Meaningful Use: An Introduction Travis Broome, Policy Analyst, CMS Elizabeth Holland, Director, HIT Initiatives Group, CMS Steve Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division, ONC Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
1-2 p.m.	Casanova 503	Update on HIPAA Initiatives David Sayen, Regional Administrator, CMS Elizabeth Reed, Health Insurance Specialist, CMS
2:15-3:45 p.m.	San Polo 3503	ONC Townhall: Advancing Health IT Into the Future Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
Thursday, February 23, 2012
8:30-9:30 a.m.	Palazzo Ballroom	Keynote speaker Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
9:45-10:45 a.m.	San Polo 3503	Privacy and Security – You Can Do It and Here’s How Joy Pritts, Chief Privacy Officer, ONC
9:45-10:45 a.m.	Venetian Showroom	Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs: Stage 2 NPRM Overview Travis Broome, Policy Analyst, CMS Elizabeth Holland, Director, HIT Initiatives Group, CMS Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT, CMS Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst, CMS
1-2 p.m.	TBD	RECs: Accelerating Meaningful Use Kimberly Lynch, Director of the REC Program
1-2 p.m.	Lido 3106	Stage 2: Exchange of Information and Public Health Objectives Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT, CMS Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst, CMS Steven Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division, ONC
1-2 p.m.	Murano 3306	Consumer E-Technology in Action: Four Implementation Examples from Beacon Communities Korey Capozza, Utah Beacon Drew McNicol, Western New York Beacon Alan Snell, MD, Indiana Beacon Barbara Sorondo, Maine Beacon
2:15-3:15 p.m.	Marco Polo 705	IOM Study-Patient Safety Jacob Reider, MD, ONC Senior Policy Advisor
2:15-4:15 p.m.	San Polo 3503	Stage 2: Clinical Quality Measures Travis Broome, Policy Analyst, CMS Steve Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division, ONC
Friday, February 24, 2012
10:00-11:00 a.m.	San Polo 3503	HIPAA Privacy and Security Regulations Leon Rodriguez, Director of OCR
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.	Venetian Showroom	Stage 2: Payment Adjustments and Changes from Stage 1 Travis Broome, Policy Analyst, CMS Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst, CMS

Theater Booth Sessions – Exhibit Hall, Booths 14624/14824

CMS and ONC will be presenting on special topics in health IT and meaningful use at the theater booth in the HIMSS exhibit hall.

Time	Presentation Topic
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
1:30-2:15 p.m.	Workforce: The Use of Immersive Learning Environments in Online HIT Technology
3:00-3:30 p.m.	Medicaid Patient Volume
4:00-5:45 p.m.	Beacon Communities: Bringing HITECH to Life – Beacon Project Highlights – IT-Enabled Care Coordination, HIT Infrastructure to Support Pioneer ACOs, and Mobile Technology in Support of Better Diabetes Management
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
9:45-10:30 a.m.	Query Health: Demonstrating How to Send Questions to the Data
11:00-11:30 a.m.	Overview and Timeline for Incentives and Payment Adjustments
12:00-12:45 p.m.	NwHN Exchange Opportunities and the Path Forward
2:45-3:30 p.m.	AHRQ: Model Children’s EHR Format
4:00-4:30 p.m.	FAQs on Stage 1 Meaningful Use
5:00-5:45 p.m.	The popHealth Challenge Demonstration: Patient Engagement Reminders for popHealth Measures
Thursday, February 23, 2012
10:00-10:30 a.m.	How States Are Auditing the Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs
11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	Overview of Stage 2 Meaningful Use
3:00-3:45 p.m.	Privacy & Security: Privacy Protection for Substance Abuse Treatment Information
4:00-4:45 p.m.	Workforce: Using the ONC-HIT Teaching Materials

ONC “Talk to the Expert” Sessions – Exhibit Booth #14824

ONC will be hosting “Talk to the Expert” sessions at its exhibit booth. Stop by to learn about:

ONC resources
Certification and Standards/Interoperability
ONC’s Regional Extension Centers, Beacon, and Workforce programs.

Engage with ONC during the Conference Online

During HIMSS, ONC will be engaging people online through its social media properties by:

Hosting discussions on LinkedIn
Tweeting live from the event
Loading all of their handouts from the conference on Scribd

If you are not already a member of our LinkedIn group, or following us on Twitter (@ONC_HealthIT), sign up today to join the discussion!

Don’t forget to check out Scribd to download handouts from HIMSS!

For More Information

HIMSS12 website

eHI Finalizes Jan 19-20 Annual Conference Agenda, Washington, DC.

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Mike Squires

eHealth Initiative Annual Conference,
Turning Policy into Action
Washington, DC

Featuring David Blumenthal and Joy Pritts from ONC, Keynote from Cokie Roberts.

Panels on CMS Innovation, Looking Ahead to Stage 2 Meaningful Use, Outlook for Health Care Policy with New Congress, eHI Awards, Privacy and Health IT, Care Coordination in Real Word, Creating Accountable Care Organizations, Data for Quality Improvement, and Progress and Barriers at State Level: HIT Coordination Panel.

For more information and registration, click here.

AGENDA
DAY ONE: Wednesday, January 19, 2011
9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
eHI Members Only

1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Conference Registration

2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Welcome and Overview of the Day
–Jennifer Covich Bordenick, Chief Executive Officer, eHealth Initiative
–William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE, FACPM, President and Chief Executive Officer, Medical Group Management Association, 2011 eHealth Initiative Board Chair

2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
A Discussion with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
Guest Speakers:
–Moderator: Steve Stack, MD, Member, Secretary, American Medical Association
– Mandy Krauthamer Cohen, MD, MPH, Senior Advisor, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Meaningful Use: A Look Ahead to Stage 2
–Moderator: Larry Yuhasz, Director, Strategy and Business Development, Thomson Reuters
–Mark Bell, Chief Information Officer, North Carolina Hospital Association
–Hank Fanberg, Technology Advocacy, Christus Health
–Charles Jarvis, Vice President of Healthcare Services and Government Relations, NextGen Healthcare
–Harry F. Laws, MD, FAAP, Chief Medical Information Officer, Community Health Network, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Indiana School of Medicine

4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
The New Congress in 2011: Outlook for Health Care Policy
–Introduction: Leigh Burchell, Allscripts, and 2011 eHI Policy Steering Committee Vice Chair
–Democrat Perspective: David Thomas, Principal, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti Inc.
–Republican Perspective: Alex Vogel, Partner, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti Inc.

4:45 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Awards Ceremony & Welcome
–Presented by: William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE, FACPM, President and Chief Executive Officer, Medical Group Management Association, 2011 eHealth Initiative Board Chair

DAY TWO: Thursday, January 20, 2011

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Registration & Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Conference Overview Welcome Back

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Privacy and Health IT: A Conversation with the Chief Privacy Officer
–Introduction: Gerry Hinkley, Co-Chair, Health Care Industry Team, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
–Joy Pritts, Chief Privacy Officer, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, US Department of Health and Human Services

9:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m.
Care Coordination in the Real World
–Moderated by: Bruce Henderson, National Leader, EHR/HIE Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Guest Speakers:
–Robert Fortini, Chief Clinical Officer, Bon Secours Medical Group from Bon Secours Health System
–Dr. Bruce Hamory, MD, Executive Vice President, Managing Partner, Geisinger Consulting Services, Geisinger Health System
–Charles Kennedy, MD, Vice President for Health Information Technology, WellPoint

10:30 a.m – 10:45 a.m.|
Networking Break

10:45 a.m.- 11:45 a.m.
Creating Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)
–Moderated by: John Edelblut, Senior Executive, Accenture
–Andrew Ziskind, Partner and Senior Executive, Accenture
–Dick Salmon, MD, PhD, National Medical Director for Quality, CIGNA HealthCare
–Mike Flammini, Head of Strategy, Aetna
–James Walton, DO, MBA, Vice President of Health Equity and Chief Equity Officer, Baylor Health Care System

11:45 a.m.- 12:45 p.m.
Lunch and Networking

12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.|
Data for Quality Improvement
–Moderator: Daniel Carmody, CPA, ChFC, Operations Director, Information Strategy and Solutions, CIGNA HealthCare
–Janet Corrigan, President and CEO, National Quality Forum
–Scott Cullen, MD, Lead for Clinical Analytics, Accenture
–Tracey Moorhead, President & CEO, Care Continuum Alliance
–Gurvaneet Randhawa, MD, MPH, Senior Advisor on Clinical Genomics & Personalized Medicine, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Networking Break

2:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
HIT Coordination Panel: Progress and Barriers at State Level
–Moderator: Rebecca Little, Senior Vice President, Medicity
–Doug Dietzman, Executive Director, Michigan Health Connect
–Gina Bianco Perez, Executive Director, Delaware Health Information Network
–John K. Evans, MHA, FACHE, President, S2A Consulting
–Liza Fox-Wylie, Policy Director, Colorado Regional Health Information Organization
–Tom Liddell, Executive Director, Michiana Health Information Network
–Vikas Khosla, President and CEO, BluePrint Healthcare IT, NJ HIN Privacy and Security Committee Subject Matter Expert

3:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Keynote Address:
–Introduction by Diane Jones, Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs, eHealth Initiative
–David Blumenthal, MD, MPH, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, US Department of Health and Human Services

4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m
Keynote Address:
–Introduction by Jennifer Covich, Chief Executive Officer, eHealth Initiative
–Cokie Roberts Cokie Roberts, ABC Congressional Correspondent and Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio

5:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m
Closing Remarks
Jennifer Covich Bordenick, Chief Executive Officer, eHealth Initiative

For more information and registration, click here.

Health IT Special Issue of The American Journal of Managed Care: Dec 2010

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Mike Squires

AJMC Publishes Health Information Technology Special Issue Online Dec 20, 2010
“Featuring scholarly articles and perspectives from policymakers, payers, providers, pharmaceutical companies, health IT vendors, health services researchers, patients, and medical educators, this [December 2010 special] issue of The American Journal of Managed Care is a reflection” of “the dramatic growth of interest in the potential for HIT to improve health and healthcare delivery,” writes Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA and David Blumenthal, MD, MPP in their introductory article titled “Health Information Technology Is Leading Multisector Health System Transformation.” Both Jain and Blumenthal are with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Authors of 23 Articles in Special Issue
Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA; and, David Blumenthal, MD, MPP; Cynthia L. Bero, MPH; and Thomas H. Lee, MD; Aaron McKethan, PhD; and Craig Brammer; John Glaser, PhD; Pete Stark; Newt Gingrich, PhD, MA; and Malik Hasan, MD; James N. Ciriello, MS; and Nalin Kulatilaka, PhD, MS; Seth B. Cohen, MBA, MPA; Kurt D. Grote, MD; Wayne E. Pietraszek, MBA; and Francois Laflamme, MBA; Amol S. Navathe, MD, PhD; and Patrick H. Conway, MD, MSc; Reed V. Tuckson, MD; Denenn Vojta, MD; and Andrew M. Slavitt, MBA; Marc M. Triola, MD; Erica Friedman, MD; Christopher Cimino, MD; Enid M. Geyer, MLS, MBA; Jo Wiederhorn, MSW; and Crystal Mainiero; Nancy L. Davis, PhD; Lloyd Myers, RPh; and Zachary E. Myers; Bryant A. Adibe, BS; and Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA; Spencer S. Jones, PhD; John L. Adams, PhD; Eric C. Schneider, MD; Jeanne S. Ringel, PhD; and Elizabeth A. McGlynn, PhD; Jeffrey L. Schnipper, MD, MPH; Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, MPH; Matvey B. Palchuk, MD, MS; D. Tony Yu, MD; Kerry E. McColgan, BA; Lynn A. Volk, MHS; Ruslana Tsurikova, MA; Andrea J. Melnikas, BA; Jonathan S. Einbinder, MD, MBA; and Blackford Middleton, MD, MPH, MS;Alexander S. Misono, BA; Sarah L. Cutrona, MD, MPH; Niteesh K. Choudhry, MD, PhD; Michael A. Fischer, MD, MS; Margaret R. Stedman, PhD; Joshua N. Liberman, PhD; Troyen A. Brennan, MD, JD; Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA; and William H. Shrank, MD, MSHS; Amir Dan Rubin, MBA, MHSA; and Virginia A. McFerran, MA; Fredric E. Blavin, MS; Melinda J. Beeuwkes Buntin, PhD; and Charles P. Friedman, PhD Robert D. Hill, PhD; Marilyn K. Luptak, PhD, MSW; Randall W. Rupper, MD, MPH; Byron Bair, MD; Cherie Peterson, RN, MS; Nancy Dailey, MSN, RN-BC; and Bret L. Hicken, PhD, MSPH; Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, MPH; Jeffrey L. Schnipper, MD, MPH; Ruslana Tsurikova, Msc, MA; D. Tony Yu, MD, MPH; Lynn A. Volk, MHS; Andrea J. Melnikas, MPH; Matvey B. Palchuk, MD, MS; Maya Olsha-Yehiav, MS; and Blackford Middleton, MD, MPH, MSc; Emily Ruth Maxson, BS; Melinda J. Beeuwkes Buntin, PhD; and Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM; Daniel C. Armijo, MHSA; Eric J. Lammers, MPP; and Dean G. Smith, PhD; Katlyn L. Nemani, BA.

Look for an upcoming post on e-Healthcare Marketing reviewing this special issue of AJMC.

ONC Listens: BluePrint at ONC Innovations Seminar

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Mike Squires

ONC Listens: BluePrint at ONC Innovations Seminar
Note: On October 25, 2010, the ONC Innovations Seminar was led by BluePrint Healthcare IT in Washington, DC. The one-hour seminar entitled “HITECH in New Jersey: A View from the Private Sector” was part of a series featuring people from outside the Office of National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT sharing their experiences and ideas with the Office. This post reports on how three of my BluePrint colleagues and I got to speak with about twenty members of ONC (including several on a conference line) and share our experiences.

ONC Innovations Seminar
Sachin Jain MD, MBA, Special Assistant to David Blumenthal; and Wil Yu, Special Assistant for Innovation to the National Coordinator, invited the BluePrint team to Washington, DC to lead Monday’s ONC Innovation Seminar. Members of BluePrint had previously worked with the New Jersey and Delaware Valley HIMSS chapters to invite Jain and Yu to speak and meet with attendees at the chapters’ joint fall conference in Atlantic City in September.

Jain initiated the ONC Innovations Series, which in its official description took “place every one to two weeks (for members of the ONC staff) and will bring in noted experts from the health IT community including technologists, patient and community advocates, grantees, academic researchers, government officials and others.”

Seminar leaders have included Michael Porter (Harvard Business School and thought leader on Competitive Advantage), Mark McClelland (former head of FDA and CMS, now heading the Engleberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings), Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins physician and leader in patient safety), Lonny Reisman (Aetna’s chief medical officer), Richard Baron (Philadelphia area physician with Greenhouse Internists) and Rushika Fernandopulle (an Atlantic City physician).

Case Studies
Speaking with ONC members at its October 25 seminar, BluePrint used three case studies to illustrate health IT challenges and how it was helping hospitals solve them: fast-tracking meaningful use security risk assessments; developing and implementing a workflow software tool to manage access to enterprise-wide software; and setting up a five-stage security and privacy framework at a community hospital to strengthen physician relationships and foster greater trust with patients. It also described its two-hour seminars offered to hospital leadership to prepare for meaningful use and readiness to receive EHR incentive payments.

BluePrint’s Public Policy Role—New Jersey and beyond
The seminar pointed out the new momentum fostered by New Jersey’s health IT leadership—statewide Health IT Coordinator Colleen Woods and Bill O’Byrne, executive director of NJ-HITEC, the state’s regional extension center. New Jersey submitted its HIE operational plan to ONC in August, and NJ-HITEC kicked off its clinician sign-up program for meaningful use support in October.

Based on working with hospital CIOs, Vikas Khosla, the President and CEO of BluePrint, described the transformation of hospital and multi-hospital system CIOs from systems implementation and management executives to leaders of healthcare change management. Founded in 2003 to advise hospitals and multi-hospital systems on security and privacy issues, BluePrint has taken on a public policy role as well, including producing a series of workshops on HITECH Breach Enforcement in collaboration with NJ HIMSS and having Vikas serve as a subject matter expert for the state HIT Committee on Privacy and Security.

The ONC’s Listening Continues
This seminar series demonstrates one way ONC listens and learns. Another example, for which registration just opened this week, is the Personal Health Record Roundtable on December 3 in Washington, DC, to be chaired by HHS Chief Privacy Officer Joy Pritts. The roundtable will hear panels of “researchers, legal scholars, and representatives of consumer, patient, and industry organizations” in order to prepare recommendations, as stipulated in HITECH Act, “related to the application of privacy and security requirements to non-HIPAA Covered Entities, with a focus on personal health record vendors and related service provider.”

To the readers of e-Healthcare Marketing, who are used to seeing this blogger’s collections of information and reports about Health IT and EHRs, thank you for taking the time to read about the Washington trip of Vikas Khosla, President and CEO; Gregory Michaels, Director, Security and Compliance Solutions; Mohit Pasricha, Chief Solutions Architect, and me, Mike Squires, Vice President, Strategic Development and Public Policy, BluePrint Healthcare IT www.blueprinthit.com .
– Mike Squires

Health Information Exchange: From Princeton to Washington, DC Conferences

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Mike Squires

July 22, 2010: HIE Day in Two Cities
WASHINGTON, DC (July 22, 2010) — With more than 400 delegates to the National HIE Summit from 38 states meeting in the nation’s capital today and over 125 delegates to the New Jersey HIE Summit & Expo meeting in Princeton, NJ, you can see federalism at work in Health IT.

In the Washington, DC Conference produced by the national eHealth Initiative, and hosted at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, the the topics of the day are:
Getting Started: What to do first?
Sustainability: What works?
Getting to Meaningful Use
Inter-State Coordination
Understanding and Connecting to the NHIN
Engaging Consumers in Health Information Exchange
Measuring Your Progress: What Really Matters?
Beyond Implementation: Planning for Privacy

The Washington session ends with a networking reception.

The Princeton, NJ Conference produced by NJTC (New Jersey Technology Council), and hosted at the New Jersey Hospital Association Conference Center, will cover:
NJ Health IT Extension Center (NJ-HITEC)
Colleen Woods, newly appointed Statewide Health IT Coordinator for New Jersey, will make a presentation.
Components of a Successful HIE
                 Developing a Sustainable Business Model for HIE
                 Managing an Effective Procurement Process
                 Engaging and Supporting Physicians in the Adoption of Heath IT
                 Building Public Private Sector Partnerships for HIE
HIPAA HITECH – Audits, Breaches & Fines
Navigating the Winding Road
                 Know Your Obligations
                 Identify and Address Gaps
                 Security Rule Compliance
                 Test Your Program and Consider Lessons Learned now Your Obligations
HIE Privacy, Security and Compliance
                 Understanding Meaningful Use Requirements
                 Understanding and Applying the New Standards Requirements
                 Developing and Implementing Strong Privacy and Security Policies
                 Advancing Administrative Simplification Efforts
Technologies that Transform Patient Care

The Princeton session ends with an ice cream reception.

Personal Notes
In Princeton, Vikas Khosla, President and CEO of BluePrint Healthcare IT (and my boss), is participating in a panel discussion and focusing on ”Developing and Implementing Strong Privacy and Security Policies” and joining two of my colleagues Gregory Michaels, Director, Security and Compliance; and Pam Kaur, Client Services Team Lead, who will be attending and working BluePrint’s exhibit table.

In Washington, as VP, Strategic Development and Public Policy, for BluePrint (and as e-Healthcare Marketing blogger), I will be listening, learning, meeting, and greeting state HIE coordinators and Health IT folks from across the country. And we’ll compare notes when the day is done.

BluePrint also issued a press release July 21, 2010 announcing two products that support secure health information exchange by lowering barriers to HIE interoperability and promoting patient confidence: HIE Secure and EMR Secure.

While e-Healthcare Marketing independently collects and reports information on Health IT including EHRs, ONC, CMS, and public policy, a view of the blogger and his business colleagues seemed worth noting today. Thank you for reading.
–Mike Squires

‘National Progress Report on eHealth’ Shows Significant Progress in Last 3 Years

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Mike Squires

eHealth Initiative Survey Identifies Challenges with Consumer Outreach and Understanding of Value
eHealth Initiative (eHI) issued the following press release on July 1, 2010.
WASHINGTON, DC – July 1, 2010 -Today, the eHealth Initiative (eHI) released the “National Progress Report on eHealth,” which tracks the progress of eHealth in the wake of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

National Progress Report on eHealth 2010

The National Progress Report on eHealth includes a review of progress made over the last three years relative to strategies and actions proposed in a 2007 eHI report. Over one hundred individuals participated on committees charged with assessing progress in five focus areas: Aligning Incentives; Engaging Consumers; Improving Population Health; Managing Privacy, Security & Confidentiality; and, Transforming Care Delivery. The report highlights key trends, actions, and strategies that still need to be addressed.

The report reveals a number of high-level findings including:

Significant progress has been made over the last three years as a result of public and private sector initiatives. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was the key driver of progress.
Many providers are concerned about the lack of coordination across the government health and health information technology (HIT) initiatives.
More education and outreach to consumers about HIT and health information exchange (HIE) is required.
Knowledge and transparency of privacy and security policies will be the key to building consumer trust of HIT and HIE.

As part of the assessment process, eHI conducted an informal online survey to gauge perceptions of progress. The survey responses offer a snapshot about the eHealth landscape. Some findings include:

The majority of respondents believe significant progress has been made: 61 percent of respondents agree or strongly agree with the statement that significant progress has been made in the successful adoption and use of HIT since 2007.
The value of HIE is not clearly understood by the majority of respondents: 54.9 percent disagree or strongly disagree with the statement that the value of HIE is clearly understood.
The majority of respondents believe outreach to consumers about the value of EHRs and HIE is not effective: 66.6 percent disagree or strongly disagree with the statement that current outreach to consumers about the value of EHRs and HIE is effective.
The majority believe Regional Extension Centers and the National Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC) will be vital to educating providers: 66.1 percent of respondents agree or strongly agree with the view that Regional Extension Centers and the HITRC will be vital to educating providers about adoption and meaningful use of HIT.

“Contributors to the report found that, while considerable progress has been made over the past three years, challenges remain,” noted Jennifer Covich Bordenick, eHealth Initiative’s Chief Executive Officer. “Coordinating public and private sector efforts, and communicating the true value of HIT and HIE to consumers will be critical as we move forward.”

As part of its work, the eHealth Initiative collected information on dozens of existing and new HIT initiatives occurring across the country. An online version of the current activities is available in the report and online.

The National Progress Report on eHealth was supported by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation supporting independent research on health policy reform and a high performance health system.

The report is available on the eHI website at: http://www.ehealthinitiative.org/

###

About eHealth Initiative
The eHealth Initiative (eHI) is an independent, non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization whose mission is to drive improvements in the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology (IT). eHI is the only organization that represents all of the stakeholders in the healthcare industry. eHI advocates for the use of HIT that is practical, sustainable and addresses stakeholder needs, particularly those of patients. For more information, visit http://www.ehealthinitiative.org/
# # #

Jennifer Lubell, HITS staff writer, reported July 2, 2010 in ModernHealthcare.com on National Progress Report,
“Electronic healthcare initiatives have made headway over the last several years, but health information technology remains an undervalued tool, a new report concludes.”

ONC and eHI Rev Up Consumer Focus on Health IT

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Mike Squires

ONC recruits Consumer Engagement Expert Joshua Seidman;
eHealth Initiative Takes Over IxAction Alliance
Diane Manos of HealthcareIT News reported on November 24, 2009, “The eHealth Initiative (eHI) is taking over the Information Therapy Action (IxAction) Alliance, a group that focuses on patient-centered care and health information technology.” The IxAction Alliance and its Web sites will maintain their identities while being managed by eHI.

eHealth Initiative stated in a November 24, 2009 press release “eHI’s adoption of the IxAction Alliance, which was previously operated by the Center for Information Therapy (IxCenter), comes on the heels of the announcement that the IxCenter will be ceasing operations as its founder and president, Joshua Seidman, PhD, moves to the federal Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology to help lead government efforts around consumer engagement and the meaningful use of electronic health records. eHI will also absorb the intellectual property of the IxCenter.”

Jennifer Covich Bordenick, Chief Operating Officer of the eHealth Initiative said “eHI will be able leverage its broad-based membership spanning every sector of the healthcare community and its leadership in using health information technology to drive improvements in healthcare as a means to expand the reach and impact of the IxAction Alliance.”

Seidman’s Transition Post on Center for Information Therapy Blog:
“Meaningful Use, ONC, Ix, and Me”
Joushua Seidman presented an 8-year history of Center for Information Therapy, their accomplishments, the commitment of ONC and eHI to consumer focus, and the transitions of iXAlliance and iXCenter to eHI in his November 18, 2009 post.

The boiler-plate descriptions of eHI and iXAction Alliance taken from the eHI press release:
About eHealth Initiative and its Foundation
“The eHealth Initiative (eHI) is an independent, non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization whose mission is to drive improvements in the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care through information and information technology. eHI engages multiple stakeholders including clinicians, consumer and patient groups, employers and healthcare purchasers, health IT suppliers, health plans, hospitals and other providers, laboratories, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, pharmacies, public health agencies, and state and community-based organizations, to reach agreement on and drive the adoption of common principles, policies, strategies and actions that improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health care through information technology that are responsible, practical, sustainable, responsible to stakeholder needs—particularly those of patients–and build and maintain the public’s trust. For more information, visit http://www.ehealthinitiative.org.”

About the IxAction Alliance
“The IxAction Alliance is an alliance of organizations committed to stimulating innovation and diffusing best practices and to evolving critical Ix strategies with the goal of advancing the practice and science of information therapy in order to improve the quality and efficiency of health care delivery. The IxAction Alliance envisions a future for our healthcare system in which every health decision made collaboratively by patients and providers is an informed one. For more information, visit http://www.ixaction.org.”

eHI Web site
http://www.ehealthinitiative.org
iXCenter Web sites
http://www.ixcenter.org
http://www.ixaction.org

eHI Members
eHI Board Members
iX Board Members

National Quality Forum: Blumenthal puts quality reporting at apex of meaningful use

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Mike Squires

National Quality Forum: Blumenthal puts quality reporting at apex of meaningful use
Reported by Mary Mosquera of Government Health IT on October 15, 2009, from the National Quality Forum conference, “National health IT coordinator David Blumenthal emphasized today that the ability of clinicians to amass, analyze and report healthcare quality measures lays at the heart of his office’s strategy for using IT to transform the U.S. healthcare system.” Mosquera further reported ”The aim is to take existing quality measures and convert them into metrics that can be incorporated into electronic health records in a standard form so they can be compared across practices and geography, he (Blumenthal) said.”

National Quality Forum
“The mission of the National Quality Forum (NQF) is to improve the quality of American healthcare by setting national priorities and goals for performance improvement, endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance, and promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs. NQF, a nonprofit organization (qualityforum.org) with diverse stakeholders across the public and private health sectors, was established in 1999 and is based in Washington, DC.”

ONC and its committees have used NQF metrics in their development of “meaningful use” measures, and are working with NQF to develop additional measures which have not yet been set.

NQF Conference Spotlights Quality Imperative in Healthcare Reform
National Quality Forum’s (NQF) 10th Annual Conference “Beyond Measure: The Quality Imperative in Healthcare Reform” assembled hundreds of healthcare leaders just outside Washington, DC on October 14-15, 2009.
NQF Press Release
NQF Annual Conference Agenda
NQF Annual Conference Adenda (pdf)

HITSP eTown Hall Meeting on Consumer Preferences Tues, Oct 13

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Mike Squires

HITSP eTown Hall Meeting on
Consumer Preferences Oct 13, 2009
Per HITSP Announcement: “HITSP will be hosting an eTown Hall Meeting for all interested HITSP Members to review the Draft Consumer Preferences Requirements Document recently released by ONC. Due date for public comments is October 16, 2009. The purpose of this eTown Hall is to present an overview of the draft Requirements Document and elicit discussion and comments. The HITSP Consumer Preferences Tiger Team will then consolidate comments and submit them to ONC by the deadline.”
Webinar: Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Time: 11:00am to 1:00pm ET
HITSP Webinar page
eTown Hall Info and Registration (pdf)
Space is limited. Preregistration is required. Space is limited.

Overview and details of ONC Consumer Preferences Requirements Document to be reviewed, discussion held, and HITSP process explained for this document. Participants requested to review document ahead of Town Hall.
Document Page: http://healthit.hhs.gov/consumerpreferences
Document (pdf)

Presenters and Facilitators
Mureen Allen, MD
        Co-Chair of the HITSP Consumer Preferences Tiger Team
Walter G. Suarez, MD
        Co-Chair of the HITSP Consumer Preferences Tiger Team
Johnathan Coleman
        HITSP Consumer Preferences Tiger Team Facilitator
Elliot Sloane
        HITSP Consumer Preferences Tiger Team Facilitator

For outline of Consumer Preferences Document and related stories see previous post on e-Healthcare Marketing.

Blumenthal: Health IT effort to create thousands of new jobs; AHIMA’s Kloss teaches history

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Mike Squires

Blumenthal: Health IT effort to create thousands of new jobs
Bernie Monegain, Editor of Healthcare IT News, reported on October 6, 2009, from the 81st Annual American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), on National Coordinator David Blumenthal’s vision of of the need for 50,000 new health information management jobs as the nation moves to electronic health records and information exchange.

Monegain further reported “A workforce training initiative would be announced within weeks or months, he (Blumenthal) said, but offered no details.”

e-Healthcare Marketing reported October 4, 2009, on the ONC’s posting of an annotated agenda and description of six new roles and a possible range of necessary competencies for each role, based on an August Workforce Workshop at Vanderbilt.

HealthData Management’s Howard Anderson reported October 7, 2009, on AHIMA CEO Linda Kloss’s reaction to Blumenthal’s speech, when she said ONC should not rush to start programs without adequate oversight since 270 health information management academic programs already exist to train professionals.

Kloss teaches (AHIMA) group’s long history to Blumenthal
Modern Healthcare’s HITS staffer Joseph Conn reported October 7, 2009 on AHIMA President Linda Kloss’s speech addressed primarily to Blumenthal and his ONC staff, based on Kloss’s 30-year history in Health IT. Kloss has been president of AHIMA for 15 years and is stepping down in March 2010. The recap of her speech is worth the history lesson to help put HIT in perspective.

e-Healthcare Marketing

Health Information Exchange, Electronic Health Records and Personal Health Records

Category Archives: HIT Organizations