Orlando, Fla.-based DSHI Systems has provided the VHA with a call-center based triage service for 12 years. The VHA selected DHSI to develop triage software ER nurses can access on tablets.

According to Fierce, the software would use algorithms from a 50,000-question library to help nurses analyze symptoms and diagnose conditions of patients. The software would provide recommendations on which patients need treatment first.

The new tablet will be tied in with VHA’s electronic health record system and provide nurses patient data, medical records and vital signs. Once complete, VHA is looking to deploy more than 100,000 tablets to medical centers.

(va.gov)

The Department of Veterans Affairs will move its electronic health records to data centers operated by the Defense Information Systems Agency, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said according to NextGov.

The move is scheduled for March and is expected to be completed in a little more than a year, according to the report.

According to NextGov, the move supports the development of a joint electronic health record system for both the VA and the Pentagon. The joint system would serve more than 9.7 million active duty personnel and 6 million veterans.

The VA has already shifted data center operations that support its management system for veterans benefits and the Post-9/11 GI Bill to data centers operated by Terremark Worldwide, according to NextGov.

Baker said each of the VA’s 152 hospitals will have between one and six servers, depending on the size of the hospital. The VA’s data center consolidation plan has four DISA centers eventually hosting the VA’s health records.

From the Pentagon to NASA, government agencies and entities have felt the constraints and have had to rethink their strategies in order to adapt for the future.

A looming question for some is how budget cuts will affect the nation’s ability to combat potential national health crisises. A report titled, “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism,” produced by Trust for America’s Health and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, says recent budget cuts may prove detrimental to public health in times of emergency.

The report says in the last year, 40 states and the District of Colombia have cut state public health funds. Including D.C., 29 states are cutting their health budgets for the second year in the row and 15 of those states for the third year in a row.

In addition, RWJF reported that federal funds set aside for training, technology and emergencies have decreased by 38 percent between fiscal year 2005 and 2012 (adjusted for inflation) and show no signs of slowing down.

The report also said:

• all 50 states and Washington, D.C. would lose some support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides during public health emergencies

• 24 states are at risk of losing support of career field officers specializing in areas including outbreak investigation and disease surveillance

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Among the many areas fully funded in the omnibus spending package is the Military Health System‘s information technology systems, with $1.4 billion allotted for fiscal year 2012.

At the same time, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2012 limits the Pentagon’s power to spend that money. The Act restricts the Pentagon from spending funds on EHR Way Ahead, a next-generation electronic health record program, until the defense secretary confirms to Congress that MHS has a cost-effective, interoperable architecture.

MHS requested $86.5 million for research and $4.6 million in operations funding for fiscal 2012. The Pentagon can spend only 10 percent of the funds until the defense secretary submits his report to Capitol Hill.

The secretary’s report must also outline the role an interagency office, manned by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, is playing in the development of the EHR program, according to NextGov.

The omnibus also restricts the VA from spending its $3.1 billion IT budget until it submits a report to Congress saying its projects meet requirements set out by the Office of Management and Budget, NextGov reported.

Photo: Kathleen Sebelius, HHS

Government Executive recently reported that the Department of Health and Human Services has announced a $1 billion grant program to identify innovations that both improve medical care and create jobs.

In a press conference, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the Health Care Innovation Challenge and said that “in recent weeks, Congress has failed to act on the full jobs agenda, so we will continue to do what we can.”

She went on to say the grants will be disbursed over three years to innovators who demonstrate new ways of delivering high-quality health care and lower costs. Sebelius said health care jobs are the key to sparking the economy.

The grants will be given to the projects that allow health care providers to hire, train and deploy new types of workers at a rapid pace.

Photo: futuregov.asia

A new watchdog agency to monitor health information technology safety problems?

That’s what the Institute of Medicine has proposed so that safety incidents tied to health IT tools including health records and health information exchanges can be effectively investigated.

The IOM, in a report commissioned by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health, said the Food and Drug Administration should not necessarily oversee health IT applications since it lacks funding, resources and the investigative capabilities necessary, according to a FierceHealthIT report.

The FDA is responsible for approving device-related applications already and new regulations may expand the group’s authority. The IOM voiced a few qualms over the FDA’s missing expertise as well as its ability to handle regulation of mobile health and IT apps.

The answer according to IOM: the Department of Health and Human Services should create and fund a new agency of which health IT vendors are required to report incidents to.

In addition, IOM suggests vendors should be required to register their products with said agency. The group demanded criteria for EHR safety be both established and enforced and amidst this all, the HIMSS’ Electronic Health Record Association formed a partnership with the iHealth Alliance, an action that seems non-coincidental.

Photo: putthestresstorest.org

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released its final standards for creating more measurements of race, ethnicity, sex, disability status and primary language in order to pinpoint and treat health status disparities.

The standards were made effective Monday.

The standards were redefined as a result of the Affordable Care Act, and will better identify health differences that exist between and within ethnic groups.

“It is our job to get a better understanding of why disparities occur and how to eliminate them,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Improving the breadth and quality of our data collection and analysis on key areas, like race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and disability status, is critical to better understanding who we are serving.

“Through these new standards, we are providing a new set of powerful tools to help us achieve our vision of a nation free of disparities in health and health care.”

Photo: healthfusion.com

The Health Information Technology Policy Committee has said regulations differentiating which data constitutes research and which constitutes operations on the issue of electronic health records will need clarification, FiercegovernmentIT.com reports.

In a letter to National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari, the committee recalled a notice of proposed rulemaking for secondary uses of EHR data for research uses could end up perpetuating obstacles to the learning health system.

The letter says current rules define research as activities that contribute to “generalizable knowledge.” The issue at hand is the learning healthcare system will depend on more widespread dissemination of healthcare results.

“Characterizing research as any evaluative activity that contributes to the ‘generalizable knowledge’ arguably no longer serves the interests of either patients or providers,” the letter says. “If data from an EHR is used for treatment purposes or to evaluate the safety, quality and effectiveness of care, such use should not be considered “research” and so require the consent of an institutional review board, or individual patients.”

The centers will be based at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University, and will focus on science and training needed to modernize and improve the way drugs and medical devices are reviewed and evaluated.

“These partnerships represent a critical, necessary and creative investment — one that will benefit not just FDA and academia, but also American consumers and industry,” said Jesse L. Goodman, the FDA’s chief scientist. “The Centers of Excellence will create new scientific research, training and staff exchange opportunities for FDA and leading area institutions.”

Just this past summer, the agency released its plan for “Advancing Regulatory Science at FDA,” and recently announced a related innovation initiative, “Driving Biomedical Innovation: Initiatives for Improving Products for Patients.”

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The Department of Veterans Affairs is amending a department rule to remove a restriction on sharing of information about treatment for certain types of medical conditions with the Defense Department.

The VA says the rule change will make it easier for the VA and Pentagon to exchange information on treatments for drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, HIV status, and sickle cell anemia.

“VA and DOD clinicians must have the most accurate and comprehensive data available to ensure they provide the highest quality care possible. We have discovered that, particularly in this age of electronic health records, this regulatory restriction created an impediment to maximizing this exchange of information,” said Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.