Is NwHIN going from “Free” to “For Fee”? Notable news late last week included ONC Coordinator Dr. Fazad Mostashari publishing a blog post stating that ONC has decided NOT to pursue promulgating regulations to govern the NwHIN. The decision was made in part after his Officeconsidered comments...
FDA Moving Forward with Regulating Mobile Health Apps This post is prepared by Christopher Dodson. Mobile medical apps designed for use on phones and tablets are generally unregulated. In July 2011, the FDA published guidance indicating its intention to use the existing regulatory framework for a...
NeHC Releases Roadmap for Growth and Evolution of HIE, and Legal HIE Listed as a Helpful Resource! Following ONC’s release of its Program Information Notice “Privacy and Security Framework Requirements and Guidance for State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program,”...
“Tapping” Apps for Physician Advice: No Waiting Room Necessary This past week, I stumbled across a fascinating article by Michael Millenson on the Health Care Blog (originally on Forbes.com) that I almost bypassed entirely. Described as a “social media darling”, the article focused on...
SAMHSA Awards IT Grants for Behavioral Health The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced last week that it will award up to $13.2 million in health information technology (HIT) grants for mental and behavioral health care settings. These grants...
ONC’s Model PHR Notice Now Available to Vendors Following the release of its Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has made available a Personal Health Record (PHR) Model Privacy Notice for PHR vendors to use in communicating their data practices...
ONC Releases Ambitious Health IT Strategic Plan The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) released its Federal Health Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan this September, detailing its goals and strategies for transforming health care through health IT over the next five...
HITPC Releases Tiger Team EHR Amendment/Correction Recommendations The ONC Health Information Technology Policy Committee (HITPC) released the Privacy & Security Tiger Team (Tiger Team) recommendations concerning amendments and corrections to electronic medical records (EMRs) in a...
The Antitrust Headache: What ACOs, AT&T and Blue Cross have in Common So what exactly do a nation-wide health insurer and the second (potentially now first) largest U.S. wireless provider have in common? Upcoming battles over the antitrust implications of their actions and a...
ONC Open Casting Calls Prepared by Krystyna Nowik, Esq. Last week, ONC opened a thirty-day window for organizations to apply to become the sole accrediting entity to oversee certifying organizations under the Permanent Certification Program for Health Information Technology...
Doctors and Patients Mostly Agree on IT Government Health IT reported yesterday that according to a national survey released January 31st by the Markle Foundation, patient and physicians share many similar views regarding increasing beneficial use of health information technology to...
(meta-data) “TAG, You-Are-It” (ONC, CMS, DHHS) ! This December 2010, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (“PCAST”) released its Report titled “Realizing the Full Potential of Health Information Technology to Improve Healthcare for Americans: The Path Forward,”...
OPM May Delay Launch of Massive Fed Health Database In response to mounting privacy concerns, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may delay the proposed November 15th launch date of its Health Claims Data Warehouse. In early October, the OPM’s notice in the Federal Register...