Monthly Archives: March 2010

New Jersey Health IT Commission Agenda–March 11, 2010

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NJHIT Commission Meeting Agenda
Thursday, March 11, 2010
3 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Dept. of Health and Senior Services,
Health and Agriculture Building, 1st Floor Auditorium,
369 South Warren Street, Trenton, NJ 08625.  
Page: http://www.state.nj.us/health/bc/hitc.shtml

AGENDA (pdf version)
Chair and moderator: Kennedy Ganti, MD
Topics
1. Overview of Meeting–Kennedy Ganti, MD  5 mins
2. Status Report on Response to ONC Grant  15 mins
–Jed Seltzer
–William O’Byrne
3. Status Report on four HIEs 15 mins
–Representatives from Health-e-Citi, Northern & Central HIE Collaborative, South Jersey HIE, and Camden Coalition
4.  Report-outs from Each Committee 15 mins
–Stevie Davidson
–Kennedy Ganti, MD
–Al Gutierrez
5. Medicaid IT Planning Update 15 mins
–Colleen Woods
–Michele Romeo
6. Introduce Framework and Timeline for Interim Report 15 mins
–Kennedy Ganti, MD
7. Lessons Learned from Government Health IT Conference & HIE Summit 10 mins
–Kennedy Ganti, MD
–Jed Seltzer
–Stevie Davidson
–Helen Oscislawski
8. Collaborations with Professional Societies, Outside Groups 10 mins
–Kennedy Ganti, MD
–Jed Seltzer
9. Public Comment Period/OPMA
General public present

National eHealth Collaborative Launches NHIN University

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NHIN University Launched by National eHealth Collaborative
Next Class March 16, 2010; Archives of First Class Available
National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) announced March 2, 2010 “the creation of ‘NHIN University,’ a program designed to educate and engage health IT stakeholders on efforts to develop the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN).” eHealth Collaborative is the successor to AHIC–American Health Information Community.

“The inaugural semester of NHIN University will feature a series of webinars intended to provide stakeholders with foundational knowledge about what the NHIN is, how it works, and the vital trust fabric that underpins the safe and secure exchange of health information.”

NHIN 101: An Introduction to the Nationwide Health Information Network
February 22, 2010
The first course took place as part of a stakeholder’s forum of the board of directors of eHealth Collaborative. The initial presentation was led by Douglas B. Fridsma, MD, PhD, Acting Director, Office of Standards and Interoperability, ONC; Mariann Yeager, Contractor to ONC; and David Lansky, PhD, President and CEO of Pacific Business Group on Health, and Chair, NHIN workgroup of HIT Policy Committee. It was followed by an expert panel discussion including some slide presentations.
 Versions of the program are available in different formats:
Stakeholder Forum/Board of Directors–Feb 22, 2010 Page
Meeting Agenda
Presentation Slides
Meeting Transcript
Recorded Webinar (audio and clear slides)
Recorded Video (audio/video of participants and fuzzy slides)

Register for Future Classes 
www.nationalehealth.org/NHIN-U
NHIN 102: Secure and Meaningful Exchange of Health Information over the Internet
March 16, 2010 2:00pm ET
Faculty: Professor Douglas Fridsma, MD, PhD, Acting Director, Office of Standards and Interoperability, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), and Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Arizona State University will teach the course.

NHIN 103: Architectures for Health Information Exchange and their Use
Mid-April Date to be Announced
Faculty: Richard Kernan, NHIN Specification Lead (Contractor), ONC.

NHIN 104: The Trust Fabric of the NHIN: Making Exchange a Good Choice
Mid-May Date to be Announced

NHIN 200, will be announced later this year.

Chilmark Research: State HIEs Analysis

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Chilmark Research: The Great Land Grab of 2010 or the Play for State HIEs
Matt Guldin of Chilmark Research, posted a great review of the status of HIE applicants to the ONC’s State HIE Cooperation Agreements on February 25, 2010. Guldin is leading  HIE research for soon-to-be released Chilmark HIE report. Guldin reported that 16 states were not yet rewarded funds:  Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Texas. See earlier post on e-Healthcare Marketing for those states that did receive funds.

According to Chilmark, most states awarded funds fell into a category of states with existing strategic andor operational plans that are not consistent with ONC criteria, a smaller number of states had no existing strategic plan and four states had existing strategic and/or operational plans that are consistent with ONC criteria. Additional awards are expected by April according to several reports.

Chilmark post goes onto to discuss impact on HIE vendors, confusion regarding HIE solutions, and concludes that there is a lack of clear vendor leadership in HIE market.

Health Information Security and Cybersecurity: Federal Contract

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Health Information Security and Cybersecurity
Solicitation Number: OS28871
Listed on ONC Contract Page with info on FedBizOpps.gov
Excerpted on March 6, 2010
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Office: Program Support Center
Location: Division of Acquisition Management

: OS28871
: Presolicitation
:
Added: Feb 16, 2010 3:38 pm

“RECOVERY: THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS OPPORTUNITY IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO CONTRACTORS UNDER THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, PROGRAM SUPPORT CENTERS 2009 TASK ORDER CONTRACTORS.

“The purpose of this contract is to carry out a sequence of related activities with the goal of understanding security risks to Health Information Technology, planning and executing risk mitigation strategies, testing certain risk mitigation strategies, communicating to stakeholders the results, lessons learned, and actions that can be taken to reduce risk in HIT, which will create the foundation for policy development.

“On February 17, 2009, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This statute includes The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (the HITECH Act) that sets forth a plan for advancing the appropriate use of health information technology to improve quality of care and establish a foundation for health care reform. Foundational to this advancement is the assurance of safety and security in Health Information Technology, as established in the legislation’s priority areas. These include promoting security and accuracy of health information and the protection of privacy through data segmentation and prevention of unauthorized access.

“Information protection and cybersecurity in the healthcare sector also cut across two of the 18 Critical Infrastructure sectors (information systems and health care) under the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. As noted in the President’s proclamation of December 2009 as Critical Infrastructure Protection Month, “critical infrastructure are the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, public health or safety.”

“Cybersecurity has been identified as a top strategic priority, as set out in the White House report: “Cyberspace Policy Review” (May, 2009). As health information exchange between enterprises increases, protecting it in its transit across cyberspace becomes increasingly important. Assuring the protection of health information stored electronically, wherever it may be located, also requires securing it against threats originating in cyberspace. The White House report identified 10 short-term top priorities for cybersecurity, including strategic planning, interagency cybersecurity policy cooperation, increasing public awareness, incident response, research and development, and identity management. The work plan associated with this contract will address these priorities in their relationship to HIT.

“Overview of Security/Cybersecurity Fully deploying Electronic Health Records (EHRs) nationwide and increasing health information exchange, as required under the ARRA/HITECH legislation, steps up the need to protect these strategic information resources against cybersecurity threats. ONC has developed a coordinated plan to identify and address these threats and lay the groundwork for a safe and secure HIT ecosystem for the United States. This plan includes several distinct and related phases, each of which is composed of one or more specific activities.”

:
Parklawn Building Room 5-101
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20857

:
Anne F Hunt
anne.hunt@psc.hhs.gov
Phone: (301) 443-5148

Implementation Workgroup, Starter Kits – Mar 8, 2010

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Implementation Workgroup – Mar 8, 2010
Implementation Starter Kits
HIT Standards Committee
Monday, March 8, 2010
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. [Eastern]
Washington, DC

Note from Meeting site: “A blog on “Implementation Starter Kits” is available on the FACA blog for you to tell us about the opportunties and challenges you faced in adopting health IT. Any information you can give us will be helpful for this public meeting.”

A G E N D A (pdf version)
9:00 a.m. Call to Order/Roll Call – Judy Sparrow, ONC
9:05 a.m. Welcome and Introduction
Aneesh Chopra, Chair, Implementation Workgroup
“Implementation Starter Kit: Lessons & Resources to Accelerate Adoption”
9:15 a.m. Public Sector Panel
Moderator: Aneesh Chopra, HIT Standards Committee member
–Doug Fridsma, NHIN, Office of the National Coordinator, HHS
–Hunt Blair, Deputy Director, Health Care Reform, Office of Vermont Health Access
–Jessica Kahn, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HHS
–Kim Davis-Allen, Alabama Medicaid
–Ken Buetow, National Cancer Institute, HHS
–Kathleen M. Roberts, National Institute of Standards and Technology
10:30 a.m. Implementation Experiences Panel
Moderator: Liz Johnson, HIT Standards Committee member
–David Muntz, Baylor
–Jay Colfer, Eclipsys (Baylor vendor)
–Charles Christian, Good Samaritan
–Michelle Freed, McKesson (Good Samaritan)
–Mitzi Cardenas, Truman Medical
–Mike Valentine, Cerner (Truman Medical)
–Michael Sauk, University of Wisconsin
–Sumit Rana, Epic (University of Wisconsin)
12:00 p.m. LUNCH BREAK
1:00 p.m. Implementation Experiences Panel, con’t
Moderator: Judy Murphy, HIT Standards Committee member
–Amanda Parsons, New York City Primary Care Information Project (NYC PCIP)
–Sidd Shah, eClinical Works (NYC PCIP)
–Dick Thompson, Quality Health Network
–Ray Scott, Axolotl (Quality Health Network)
–John Blair, Taconic, IPA
–Jennifer Brull, Solo Family Physician, Plainville, KS
–Maria Rudolph, eMDs (Dr. Brull’s vendor)
2:15 p.m. Innovation Panel
Moderator: Cris Ross, HIT Standards Committee member
–David Stuart Buck, Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston & Baylor College of Medicine
–Harry Totonis or David Yakimischak, SureScripts
–Tom Morrison, NaviNet
–Sherry Reynolds, Group Health
–Will Ross, Redwood MedNet
3:30 p.m. Meeting Summary – Aneesh Chopra, Chair
3:45 p.m. Public Comment
4:00 p.m. Adjourn

How to Participate Remotely
Webconference: Go to link at least 10 minutes prior to meeting; test system prior to meeting.
Audio: You may listen in via computer or telephone.
US toll free:   1-877-705-2976
International Direct:  1-201-689-8798

Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA: Special Asst to Blumenthal

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Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA
Special Assistant to the National Coordinator  for Health IT
Name, role and bio added to ONC site by March 5, 2010:

Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA

Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA

“Sachin H. Jain is special assistant to the National Coordinator for HealthInformation Technology in the Obama Administration.  In this role, he works closely with Dr. Blumenthal in executing his health IT agenda.  Prior to joining the administration, he was a member of the faculty at Harvard Business School and a resident physician in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. 

“Dr. Jain holds his bachelor’s degree (AB), his medical degree (MD), and MBA from Harvard University.  A Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow, Dr. Jain has worked previously at McKinsey and Co, WellPoint, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.  Dr. Jain was principal investigator on three Commonwealth Fund grants used to found and support ImproveHealthCare.org, an organization that aims to educate physicians about health care systems.  He has served as a guest instructor at the MIT-Sloan School of Management, and the Darden School at the University of Virginia. He has served as a reviewer for JAMA and the European Management Journal.  

“While he was faculty at the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, Dr. Jain worked closely with strategy professor Michael Porter on case studies on innovative health care delivery models.  Dr. Jain was a founding member and associate director of the Global Health Delivery Project housed at the Institute and Harvard Medical School.  He consulted for a variety of companies across the health care sector, including several small health information technology companies.

“Dr. Jain’s writings have appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine, The Boston Globe, Healthcare Financial Management, American Journal of Managed Care, Modern Healthcare, and the Harvard Health Policy Review.  The book he co-edited (with Susan Pories and Gordon Harper) The Soul of A Doctor (Algonquin Press: Chapel Hill) was published in 2006 and has been translated into Chinese (2008).  

“A native of Bergen County, NJ, Dr. Jain now resides in Washington, DC.”

NHIN Direct launched at HIMSS10; simpler data exchange

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NHIN Direct launched at HIMSS10;
Simpler data exchange for physicians and consumers
Office of National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT launched NHIN Direct Wiki and blog at HIMSS10 in Atlanta on March 1, 2010. NHIN Direct is being led by Arien Malec, most recently with RelayHealth, who started formally with ONC on March 1, 2010.

ArienMalec

Arien Malec

ONC “launched ‘NHIN Direct’ as a simpler way for physicians and consumers to exchange health information than through implementation of the full-blown Nationwide Health Information Network” as reported by Mary Mosquera, Goverment HealthIT, on Feb 26, 2010.

The remainder of this post (and Malec’s head shot) were pulled from NHIN Direct Web site Wiki and blog on March 4, 2010.

“NHIN Direct is the set of standards, policies and services that enable simple, secure transport of health information between authorized care providers. NHIN Direct enables standards-based health information exchange in support of core Stage 1 Meaningful Use measures, including communication of summary care records, referrals, discharge summaries and other clinical documents in support of continuity of care and medication reconciliation, and communication of laboratory results to providers.”

NHIN Direct Process Wiki
NHIN Direct Web site and Wiki “collects the User Stories and Specifications and Service Descriptions for the NHIN Direct project. Once collected and organized, these stories, specifications and service descriptions will then serve as the basis for exploratory implementation work and pilot projects. The objective is to have pilot projects demonstrating simple, direct exchange during 2010, leading to widespread adoption by 2011. See the Overall Process page for more details.”

NHIN Direct
NHIN FAQ
NHIN Direct Blog

Why NHIN Direct?
“There is a need to extend the NHIN to support a broader set of participants and providers through a simple, standards-based, widely deployed and well-supported method for providers to securely transport health information using the Internet in support of the core Meaningful Use outcomes and measures.”

What is the relationship between NHIN Direct and the currently descrived NHIN Architecture?
In short, “NHIN Direct and the current NHIN model support different use cases and are coequal in a system of robust nationwide health information exchange.”

“The currently described NHIN Architecture (see the NHIN Inventory of Tools for more detail) describes a method for universal patient lookup and document discovery and exchange between National Health Information Organizations, including Federal providers such as the Veterans Health Administration, Department of Defense Military Health System, RHIOs, and large IDNs . NHIN Direct supports cases of pushed communication between providers, hospitals, laboratories, and other health settings of care.
The current members of the NHIN Collaborative will be able to support the NHIN Direct model, and providers and enabling organizations for NHIN Direct will scale to support to support the discovery and exchange use cases. Both models are required and will be in use at the same time for the same participants, depending on the information exchange needs.”

HIMSS10 Blumenthal Keynote: “Wind is at our back”

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HIMSS10 Blumenthal Keynote: “Wind is at our back”
Joseph Conn, ModernHealthcare.com, reported from HIMSS10 convention on March 3, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, National Coordinator for Health IT “David Blumenthal’s keynote speech this morning at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society convention in Atlanta was in part a personal introduction, and then in turn pep talk, recitation of recent federal achievements and preview of the work ahead.”

CMIO Conference News reported reported March 3, 2010 that Blumenthal spoke to a capacity crowd and said “You have been leaders and we want you to continue to be leaders and we will follow your lead,” and cited ONC’s accomplishments.

Mark McGraw reported on March 3, 2010 in an ADVANCE Perspective blog from HIMSS10 on Blumenthal’s listing of accomplishments of ONC in past ten months, and quoted Blumenthal who said “We spent the first year developing policy. Now we begin the process of implementation.”

Reporting from Atlanta, Paul McCloskey wrote on March 3, 2010 in Government HealthIT, “Dr. David Blumenthal introduced himself to the IT community yesterday in a talk in which he told the story of his first experiences using health IT and shared his convictions about its future,”  laying “out goals for a plan that has no precedent ‘in the history of healthcare.’”

Blumenthal: CLIA Permits Electronic Exchange of Lab Data

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CLIA Permits Electronic Exchange of Lab Data
Posted by Dr. David Blumenthal on ONC’s Health IT Buzz Blog on Wed, March 3, 2010.

“On March 1, 2010, CMS, in collaboration with ONC, released guidance clarifying that the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) permit labs to electronically exchange lab data and addressing some confusion regarding laboratory data and health IT.  This guidance was put forth in a Survey and Certification letter, including interpretive guidance and frequently asked questions.

“Underlying this guidance is the clear recognition of the need for privacy and security of laboratory test results.  When such information is shared, there should be a commitment that the all test results will be protected and used by the right people and for the right reasons.

“Early in 2009, I saw the need for guidance related to the electronic exchange of laboratory data since it is a key part of improving health care quality and care coordination.  We subsequently asked the Information Exchange Workgroup of the HIT Policy Committee to hold hearings on barriers to exchange of lab data and how these barriers could be overcome. Based on this input, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services drafted guidance that solves the following problems:

  • Encourages the use of HL7 2.5.1, LOINC, and federally recognized Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) specifications in the electronic exchange of lab data,
  • States that visual inspection of laboratory interfaces within an EHR installation is not required,
  • Permits patient access to test results if not prohibited by state law,
  • Supports the goals of meaningful use, and
  • Expressly allows laboratory data to be transmitted through a health information exchange (HIE). “

“While this guidance furthers the ability of laboratories and EHRs to electronically send and receive laboratory data, it is not a panacea and more work must be done.

“If States want widespread health information for their population then they must take into account that some State laws currently prohibit the release of test reports directly to patients and even to other providers treating the patient.

“We are addressing state concerns by working on policies and frameworks that allow health information to be securely exchanged. And “securely” is an important word.  I want to be clear that in all our Health IT investments, patient privacy is our top priority.  And as we move toward a new age of electronic health information technology, we are committed to putting forth policies and technology that will meet this expectation of privacy.

“We encourage you to review the Survey and Certification package and provide feedback to both ONC and CMS on additional issues that remain regarding the Federal CLIA law and health IT.”
    #   #   #

Link to CMS’s Mar 1, 2010 CLIA Guidance memo (pdf)

See Blumenthal’s original blog post or comment on Health IT Buzz Blog.

Chief Privacy Officer Pritts Bio Added to ONC site

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ONC adds Bio of Chief Privacy Officer Joy Pritts to Web siteImage of Joy Pritts - Chief Privacy Officer

Joy Pritts
Chief Privacy Officer
“Joy Pritts joined the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in February 2010 as Chief Privacy Officer. Ms. Pitts provides critical advice to the Secretary and the National Coordinator in developing and implementing ONC’s HITECH privacy and security programs.

“Prior to joining ONC, Ms. Pritts was on the faculty at Georgetown University where she held a joint appointment as a Senior Scholar with the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and as a Research Associate Professor with the Health Policy Institute. Her work has focused on the critical issues surrounding the privacy of health information and patient access to medical records at both the federal and state levels. She has written extensively on such topics as the HIPAA Privacy Rule, federal alcohol and substance abuse confidentiality laws, and the confidentiality of health information in research. She has worked closely with national consumer organizations and federal policymakers on ensuring the protection of health information. Ms. Pritts has most recently participated in a number of federal HIT initiatives including serving on the Technical Advisory Panel for the multi-state Health Information Security and Privacy Collaborative (HISPC) and as a board member of the National Governors Association’s State Alliance for e-Health.

“Ms. Pritts holds a law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College.”

See previous e-Healthcare Marketing post on Joy Pritt.