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WASHINGTON – A think tank with a healthcare task force chaired by former Senators Tom Daschle, a Democrat, and Bill Frist, MD, a Republican, is advocating for improved and better-used health information technology. Among the group’s recommendations is “robust” data exchange.

The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Task Force on Delivery System Reform and Health IT released its report on Jan. 27.

[See also: Former U.S. senators find common ground on health IT]

Besides data exchange, the recommendations range from realigning incentives and payments to support higher quality, more cost-effective care to increasing the use of electronic health records.

“There is strong bipartisan support for health IT, and for moving away from a payment model that largely focuses on volume – rewarding providers for doing more – rather than on quality outcomes or value,” said Daschle.

“To deliver high-quality, cost-effective care, a physician or hospital needs good information,” said Frist. “Data about patients has to flow across primary care physicians, hospitals, labs, and anywhere that patients receive care.”

[See also: HIMSS Leaders Innovators excites C-suite execs.]

The two former senators note that the recommendations come at  a time of unprecedented public and private spending on health IT. An investment of nearly $30 billion was triggered by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, spurring significant investments by the private sector. They note that a majority of the federal investment is in the form of incentive payments through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

The task force recommends actions for aligning incentives and payment with higher quality, more cost-effective care, along with the health IT-enabled, coordinated, accountable, patient-centered delivery models that support such outcomes.

To further accelerate health information exchange, the Task Force recommends that the next phase of meaningful use and related standards and certification programs support the more robust exchange of standards-based data across multiple settings; public-private sector agreement on and execution of a common set of principles, policies and methods for exchange in the near-term; and the development and execution of a long-term strategy for the data standards and interoperability needs associated with delivering care, empowering patients, and improving population health.

Educating consumers about the benefits of electronic tools, and promoting their use, is an additional focus of the task force’s recommendations.

“We need a bold campaign to raise awareness among consumers about the benefits of using these tools,” said BPC Health Project State Co-Chair and former Gov. Ted Strickland. “We need to make it easier for consumers to navigate the health care system and take control of their health.”

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/bipartisan-policy-center-calls-more-better-health-it

Aneesh Chopra, the federal government’s first chief technology officer and assistant to the president, has resigned, the White House announced Jan. 27. He is expected to leave in early February.

Chopra, who is known for his high-octane enthusiasm at healthcare and technology industry conferences, was instrumental in making developer challenges and contests a tool for government to use to promote innovative applications quickly and to complement traditional procurement methods and grants. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT was the first federal office to adopt the technology competitions.

[See also: Newsmaker Interview: Aneesh Chopra.] 

Reports suggested he may enter politics in Virginia, where he was the state’s former secretary of technology under then-Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who is now running for a Senate berth from the Virginia. Chopra joined the administration of President Barack Obama in 2009.

According to the Washington Post, Chopra may consider throwing his hat into the race for lieutenant governor of Virginia.

In announcing the resignation, Obama said that Chopra did “groundbreaking work to bring our government into the 21st century.” 

“Aneesh found countless ways to engage the American people using technology, from electronic health records for veterans, to expanding access to broadband for rural communities, to modernizing government records,” the president said in a statement.

[See also: Chopra celebrates new era of entrepreneurship.]

Chopra has been an advocate for transparency and the administration’s Open Government efforts to enable Americans to better view the operations of their government and to use some of the volumes of data that it holds.

At the Jan. 27 Care Innovations Summit, Chopra announced a group of applications development contests and talked about the power of collaboration and expertise of those “who are largely outside of the four walls of any particular government building in Washington or the surrounding ecosystem of folks who dominate the discourse of the Nation’s Capital” to solve the nation’s problems, such as students, entrepreneurs, faculty members, large and small corporations. 

Chopra also has worked with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and has taken active roles on its advisory Health IT Standards Committee. For example, he led a small team to identify standards and federal data services, which could be used to streamline eligibility and enrollment in Medicaid and other health and human services programs. 

[See also: Chopra, Glaser look to future of health IT.]

Chopra also held the title of associate director for technology within the Office of Science Technology Policy to advance the administration’s technology agenda by fostering new ideas and encouraging government-wide coordination.

Before entering public service, Chopra was managing director with the Advisory Board Company, a publicly-traded healthcare think tank.

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/chopra-resigns-white-house

WASHINGTON – Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, expressed urgency in pressing forward with the “triple aim” goals of better individual healthcare, better population health and lower costs called for in the health reform law and translated into initiatives by her predecessor.

Speaking Jan. 26 at the Care Innovations Summit in Washington, DC, Tavenner highlighted the work of the CMS Innovation Center.

CMS sees coordinating care and improving technology as two critical goals and is depending on its Innovation Center over the 24 months to focus on changes in delivery models and the use of public/partnerships to spur reform.

The Innovation Center has launched delivery system initiatives to help test new models, such as accountable care organizations and medical homes with shared savings and bundled payments, and anticipates scaling nationwide what works.

Some innovations run counter to the prevailing business models. “We know that providers will adopt these new practices only if they see value in them for themselves and for their patients,” she said.

Among the Innovation Center initiatives to date are:
• Multi-payer Advanced Primary Care Practices Demonstrations led by eight states to help physicians become medical homes
• Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Initiative for episodes of care around hospitalization for care redesign
• Pioneer Accountable Care Organization Model Initiative with 32 provider groups taking on financial risk for improving quality and lowering cost for Medicare patients
• State Demonstrations to Integrate Care for Medicare-Medicaid Enrollees with 15 states redesigning care for dual eligible
• Innovation Advisors Program to train 73 providers in achieving the three-part aim
• Partnership for Patients with 3,200 hospitals targeting 40 percent reduction in hospital-acquired conditions and 20 percent reduction re-admissions within 30 days of discharge.

Tavenner listed some of the popular ACA accomplishments to date, including filling in the prescription coverage “doughnut hole” with $250 rebate checks to Medicare recipients, creating a high risk pool for those denied insurance or extremely high risk making insurance unaffordable, and a consumer website at www.healthcare.gov that offers an insurance plan finder.

ACA has expanded coverage for young adults so parents can keep children to age 26 on their plan, including Tavenner’s daughter, she said. The law also expanded preventive services without co-pays, like flu shots and mammogram screening, which will help to lower costs over the long term.

If the Innovation Center tests a promising practice that demonstrates improvement in total cost of care and quality outcomes, the Office of the Actuary can certify that this initiative meets the criteria to be spread nationally through action by the secretary of Health and Human Services, said Dr. Rick Gilfillan, director of the CMS Innovation Center.

In 2014, most of the reform provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) kick in and “24 months is not a lot of time” to get all the work done and fit the pieces together, she said.

Tavenner acknowledged the work of Donald Berwick, MD, who stepped down last month as CMS administrator because his recess appointment was expiring. Republican senators had blocked his confirmation as agency head.

Tavenner, a nurse and former Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources, awaits Senate confirmation. She had been principal deputy administrator under Berwick.

“The law was meant to build on our current system. We know what’s working and what needs improvement, and this law is the first step to make those changes in insurance company abuses, improving quality and lowering costs, better access to care and a doc fix for Medicare,” she said at the Jan. 26 Care Innovations Summit, her first conference appearance since her nomination. The summit was hosted by CMS, West Wireless Health Institute and the journal Health Affairs.

In October, the start of the 2013 federal fiscal year, Medicare will begin to pay hospitals based on their performance in quality measures through the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, she said.

CMS sees coordinating care and improving technology as two critical goals and is depending on its Innovation Center over the 24 months to focus on changes in delivery models and the use of public/partnerships to spur reform.

The Innovation Center has launched delivery system initiatives to help test new models, such as accountable care organizations and medical homes with shared savings and bundled payments, and anticipates scaling nationwide what works.

Tavenner listed some of the popular ACA accomplishments to date, including filling in the prescription coverage “doughnut hole” with $250 rebate checks to Medicare recipients, creating a high risk pool for those denied insurance or extremely high risk making insurance unaffordable, and a consumer website at www.healthcare.gov that offers an insurance plan finder.

ACA has expanded coverage for young adults so parents can keep children to age 26 on their plan, including Tavenner’s daughter, she said. The law also expanded preventive services without co-pays, like flu shots and mammogram screening, which will help to lower costs over the long term.

If the Innovation Center tests a promising practice that demonstrates improvement in total cost of care and quality outcomes, the Office of the Actuary can certify that this initiative meets the criteria to be spread nationally through action by the secretary of Health and Human Services, said Dr. Rick Gilfillan, director of the CMS Innovation Center.

Some innovations run counter to the prevailing business models. “We know that providers will adopt these new practices only if they see value in them for themselves and for their patients,” he said.

Among the Innovation Center initiatives to date are:
• Multi-payer Advanced Primary Care Practices Demonstrations led by eight states to help physicians become medical homes
• Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Initiative for episodes of care around hospitalization for care redesign
• Pioneer Accountable Care Organization Model Initiative with 32 provider groups taking on financial risk for improving quality and lowering cost for Medicare patients
• State Demonstrations to Integrate Care for Medicare-Medicaid Enrollees with 15 states redesigning care for dual eligible
• Innovation Advisors Program to train 73 providers in achieving the three-part aim
• Partnership for Patients with 3,200 hospitals targeting 40 percent reduction in hospital-acquired conditions and 20 percent reduction re-admissions within 30 days of discharge.

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/cms-tavenner-spotlights-innovation

WASHINGTON – ONC’s Office of the Chief Privacy Officer (OCPO) recently launched a Privacy Security Mobile Device project, and is at work achieving its stated goals.
 
The project aims to develop an effective and practical way to bring awareness and understanding to those in the clinical sector, helping them better secure and protect health information while using mobile devices, such as laptops, tablets and smartphones.

[See also: Mobile health app market in growth mode.]

[See also: Kaiser goes mobile with 9 million strong]

The ONC is in working with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on the initiative.

Building on the existing HHS HIPAA Security Rule – Remote Use Guidance, the project is designed to identify privacy and security good practices for mobile devices. Identified good practices and use cases will be communicated in plain, practical and easy to understand language for healthcare providers, professionals and other entities.
 
HHS will be looking for input, and it plans a public roundtable in the spring on this project and other mHealth initiatives.

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/onc-puts-spotlight-mobile-security

SAN FRANCISCO – Former Microsoft Health Solutions Group executive Peter Neupert will join Health Evolution Partners, a venture capital firm launched by former National Coordinator for Health IT David Brailer, MD, as an operating partner.

Neupert is a healthcare information technology leader who is globally known for his experience building major healthcare information technology products and bringing them to market. He will collaborate with Health Evolution Partners’ (HEP) other operating partners to help the firm’s portfolio companies achieve commercial success, Brailer said in making the announcement.

Health Evolution Partners buys and operates rapidly growing companies that are commercial leaders in the healthcare industry. It invests around the world and across the health economy, including services, IT and life sciences.

Brailer founded HEP, after he stepped down as the nation’s first national health information technology coordinator.

[See also: Brailer's new fund to focus on 'problem solvers'.]

“As one of the world’s top health information technology executives, Peter will bring immeasurable strength to HEP and our companies,” Brailer said (pictured at right). “His experience, ranging from start-ups to the largest global companies, puts him in a unique position to help our companies be market leaders.”

“HEP’s portfolio companies are among the most innovative growth companies in the industry, and I look forward to contributing to their successes,” said Neupert.

Neupert most recently served as Corporate Vice President of the Microsoft Health Solutions Group, since its formation in 2005. Under his leadership, the group brought two primary software platforms to the market: Amalga, a data integration platform, and HealthVault, a personal health application platform.

Recently, Microsoft and GE Healthcare announced it would join to build a new company. The new company will get all of Microsoft’s health IT technologies, including its Amalga Unified Intelligence System and Vergence and expreSSO, single sign-on and context management tools – but not including its HealthVault personal health record, which will stay under the Microsoft brand.

[See also: GE, Microsoft launch new health IT company.]

Neupert served on the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) from 2003 to 2005, co-chairing the health information technology subcommittee. Prior to Microsoft, he led drugstore.com, which become a top online retail store and information site during his time as president and CEO from 1998 to 2001. He remained as chairman of the board of directors of drugstore.com until April 2004.

Neupert is an active member of the Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Value Science-Driven Healthcare and serves on the board of trustees for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He has also served on the boards of GlobalScholars.com (sold to Scantron Corp.), Aquantive.com (sold to Microsoft) and Cranium, Inc. (sold to Hasbro).

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/neupert-join-brailers-health-evolution-partners

FRANKLIN, TN – M*Modal has partnered with Chicago-based Merge Healthcare to integrate its speech recognition and natural language understanding (NLU) technology across Merge’s portfolio of imaging and IT offerings.

Through this partnership, M*Modal, which also develops clinical documentation workflow technology, seeks to help Merge clients achieve meaningful use and contextual narrative capture.

[See also: Speech recognition market poised for growth.]

Officials say the two companies plan to accelerate adoption of these speech-based solutions across the Merge network of clients, including 1,500 hospitals and 6,000 clinics with such specialties as imaging (representing one third of all U.S. imaging centers), cardiology, orthopaedics and eye care, along with a full suite of clinical trials solutions.?

Vern Davenport, chairman and CEO of M*Modal, says his company will provide Merge customers with speech-enabled solutions that “will increase access to key clinical data originating from the provider’s spoken word, meeting them at their current state of readiness. It’s that simple spoken word that enables caregivers to fully capture the patient story, extract clinically relevant data and ultimately enhance the physician’s user experience.”

[See also: Merge Healthcare acquires Ophthalmic Imaging.]

“We value the innovative nature of M*Modal’s solutions and the company’s commitment to collaboration as it enables healthcare technology leaders like Merge to deliver innovation to its solution offerings that will ultimately enhance our customers’ ability to deliver care,” said Merge Healthcare CEO Jeff Surges.

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/mmodal-integrate-speech-understanding-merge-technology

TORONTO – A new report from Millennium Research Group shows that declining demand in private practices for diagnostic electrocardiography (ECG) devices will contribute to slow growth in the U.S. market – despite a growing number of older patients who require the devices.

The study finds that reasons for declining private practice demand range from Medicare funding cuts to the impact of accountable care organizations.

In 2008, Medicare began cutting funding to private cardiology practices. These cuts have had a significant impact on the annual revenues of independent cardiologists’ annual revenues, with the result that a significant number of private cardiologists in the United States have sold their practices and moved into hospital medical centers.

[See also: Cardiology IT field marked by frustration.]

These clinics were major purchasers of resting ECGs, stress ECG systems and Holter systems, which will see a sales decline as a result, MRG finds – effects that the research group expects to continue through 2016.

Meanwhile, the increasing popularity of ACOs in the U.S. will have a negative effect on the sales of stress ECG systems, researchers say. The mandates to lower overall healthcare costs and to designate procedures to the healthcare settings best suited to providing each medical test at the lowest cost will drive procedures to larger facilities and limit sales of stress systems.

In addition, the movement to more open interfaces means purchasers are no longer limited to the software solution provided by the ECG vendor.

For example, companies such as Agfa Healthcare and Epiphany Cardiography Products have been successful in converting hospitals to their vendor-neutral ECG data management solutions, MRG points out – arguing that his trend will become increasingly significant in coming years as more ECG manufacturers enter the market with devices using the DICOM standard, providing care organizations with more options for data management solutions for their resting and stress ECG products.

[See also: Diagnostic imaging soars, along with healthcare costs.]

“On top of these existing market trends will come the effect of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” said MRG analyst Mickel Phung. “ARRA has introduced incentive funding for the adoption of electronic medical records. Adoption of ECG data management solutions has been spurred by EMR adoption, as care facilities purchase data management solutions to integrate with their EMR. This will further encourage the decoupling of software from devices, allowing for their purchase from separate vendors. The increased competition will limit selling prices.”

Millennium Research Group predicts the overall market for diagnostic electrocardiography devices in the U.S. will reach a value of nearly $366 million by 2016.

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/medicare-cuts-acos-cause-slowdown-diagnostic-ecg-device-market

WASHINGTON – The Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering has launched a contest to spur undergraduate and graduate students to create health-related apps. The prize for the winning team: $10,000.

Students pursuing degrees toward careers in health, engineering and computer science could earn a distinctive addition to their resumes by participating in the “Go Viral to Improve Health” contest, officials say.

The contest is the second annual collegiate challenge designed to inspire students to work in interdisciplinary teams and transform health data into mobile apps, online tools or games, or other innovative products that solve vexing health problems.

[See also: Mobile health app market in growth mode]

There is a total of $18,000 in prizes. The team that designs the best product will receive a $10,000 prize sponsored by Heritage Provider Network and the opportunity to demonstrate their app during the plenary session of Health Datapalooza, the third Health Data Initiative Forum, June 5-6, Washington, D.C.

The second and third place teams will receive awards of $5,000 and $3,000, respectively, and both will have the chance to display their winning technologies in the exhibit hall at Datapalooza, a gathering of software engineers, developers, and health leaders. Teams will be reimbursed up to $1,000 of their travel costs to the forum.

Entries will be assessed on their design, usability, and how well they integrate public health data.  Expert judges include Deborah Estrin, professor of computer science, University of California, Los Angeles; Reena Singhal Lee, senior technical manager, Google; Richard Merkin, president and CEO, Heritage Provider Network; Todd Park, chief technology officer, Department of Health and Human Services; and Barbara Rimer, dean and alumni distinguished professor, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

[See also: App challenge winners harness public data for cancer treatment ]

Participating teams must consist of between two and five members and include at least one undergraduate or graduate student pursuing a health-related degree and one undergraduate or graduate student pursuing a degree in computer science, engineering, or a similar major. Additional team members may come from any program or major. Teams must use data from the Health Indicators Warehouse, a vast collection of health data and indicator sets made available by the Department of Health and Human Services, and are encouraged to use other data sources as well. Additional eligibility criteria and terms are spelled out at iom.edu/goviral.

Students must register their teams for the challenge by Feb. 10. Once registered, teams have until noon EST on March 28 to submit their apps. Further details about “Go Viral to Improve Health” can be found at iom.edu/goviral and on Facebook at facebook.com/goviraltoimprovehealth. Questions can be directed to goviral@nas.edu.

The Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering along with the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. For more information, visit national-academies.org.

Heritage Provider Network, Inc. is one of the largest physicians’ groups in the United States, providing medical care to approximately 700,000 people.

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/contest-aims-inspire-students-create-healthcare-apps

WASHINGTON – The National Priorities Partnership (NPP) has published five case studies that explore “on-the-ground” application and alignment with national priorities for improving healthcare.

NPP – a multi-stakeholder group of healthcare leaders convened by the National Quality Forum (NQF) – provides guidance to government and the private sector on quality and performance improvement.

The case studies, which officials say are part of an independent evaluation of the NPP’s impact to date building consensus and catalyzing action around national priorities and goals in healthcare, explore ways various priority areas which are supportive of the National Quality Strategy (NQS), creation. Developing a strategy was a requirement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

[See also: NPP lays out roadmap for quality improvement.]

“These case studies illuminate how the critical work of the NPP is being carried out across different settings,” said NPP co-chair Helen Darling, president and CEO of the National Business Group on Health. “Despite their different roles within healthcare, each found a way to use the NPP framework and the partnership as part of their healthcare improvement efforts.”

The five participating organizations and their areas of focus are:

• HealthPartners, an integrated healthcare system located in Bloomington, Minn. The case study focuses on how the organization leveraged NPP championing of population health and reducing racial and ethnic disparities.
• Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute, a healthcare provider and not-for-profit health plan serving 9 million people in nine states and Washington, D.C. The case study focuses  on care coordination and transitions – for example when patients move from hospital to home or into palliative care;
• The North Carolina Quality Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety, an organization created to help increase safety and quality in North Carolina. The case study focuses on the Center’s adoption of national priorities to serve as a framework and to galvanize improvements in patient safety at hospitals statewide.   
• The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA), a multi-stakeholder membership organization that promotes appropriate medication use and develops strategies for measuring and reporting performance information related to medications. The case study focuses on PQA’s partnership with NPP to drive population health improvement through better medication management.
• The Spine Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, one of the flagship institutions of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system, in Lebanon, N.H. The case study focuses on how the center leveraged NPP’s heightened attention to reduce the overuse of care and improve patient and family engagement in care.

During in-person visits with evaluators, leaders at each site said they looked to the NPP’s work and recommendations as guideposts to affirm future goal-setting; several sites embedded these goals in their organization’s strategic plans. Organization leaders also agreed that the national priorities supported by the NPP were well-fitted to current directions being taken in their organizations. NPP’s broad outreach capabilities, including through its convener, the NQF, was also seen as a strength.

“We look forward to utilizing this information to shape our agenda for the future, as we continue to provide guidance on national priorities and goals for performance improvement and work in partnership to achieve positive change in health and healthcare,” said NPP Co-Chair Bernie Rosof, MD, chair of the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, convened by the American Medical Association.

[See also: NQF endorses four new patient quality care measures .]

“The overarching goal of the NPP is to support alignment with the National Quality Strategy and its goals for quality and safety improvement,” said Janet Corrigan, president and CEO of NQF.  “The user data these case studies provide will allow NPP to further strengthen their framework and provide additional opportunities for organizations to integrate into their own decision-making process.”

Read the full case studies here.

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/npp-releases-case-studies-tracking-progress-toward-health-improvement-goals

Article source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/hii-launches-project-harmonize-health-research-guidelines