A Senate panel on Wednesday approved President Barack Obama's recommendation of Sylvia Mathews Burwell for the next secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reports the Los Angeles Times. While three Republicans voted against Mahews Burwell, eight gave the OK along with all 13 Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee. Burwell worked in the Clinton White House, was part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and heads the Office of Management and Budget.
Burwell’s confirmation follows 4 years after the Affordable Care Act which charged her with implementing the mandates given her by the U.S. Congress. Other than President Obama’s highly visible multi-media campaign Kathleen Sebelius was prominent during the run-up to enrollment opening. Following that fiasco, her credibility evaporated. Burwell faces a relatively quiet period as the initial post enrollment period progresses. Burwell’s most recent public office was in the OMB. She has no direct background in health care administration.
For those physicians who purchased a new EHR prior to the later stages of MU mandates there is a sign of some relief as CMS has waived the requirement in some cases.
For the second time this year, the government was forced to punt on a major health IT initiative, potentially adding another year before early adopters of EHRs must meet more stringent requirements. (MODERN HEALTHCARE)
Today, CMS and ONC released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would allow providers participating in the EHR Incentive Programs to use the 2011 Edition of certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) for calendar and fiscal year 2014.
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation is calling on Congress to adopt a national telehealth policy - and penalize states who don't fall in line.
The current model for mHealth apps is a commercially driven approach B2C rather than a provider to consumer driven model. Patients are currently at the mercy of marketing and have little knowledge of what a reliable or credible device or software app is. Physicians must learn about these apps, and their functionality, and prescribe devices as DME to ensure compliance. Eventually this will become standard of care. FDA guidance is strongly needed or outright regulation as a medical device to ensure accuracy. Many are WiFi enabled and will require HIPAA compliance for data transferee via the internet. WiFi is notoriously open to hacking and encryption is a mandatory component. This is especially important for remote monitoring
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Posted: 22 May 2014 01:30 PM PDT
The always interesting and insightful John Moore from Chilmark research has a post up that asks a very good question. The question is whether it’s time for the government to get out of the EHR regulation business and let the … Continue reading→
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Posted: 22 May 2014 07:37 AM PDT
I was excited to sit down with Alan Portela, CEO of AirStrip, in our latest installment of Google Plus Hangouts with top healthcare IT leaders. Along with telling a little bit about the AirStrip story, we talk a lot about … Continue reading →
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