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 [...]
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 [...]
The Food and Drug Administration has today awarded $2 million to support two regional Centers of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation. 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 [...]
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 [...]
Much federally funded medical research, disease prevention and public health initiatives will suffer if the congressional super committee fails to agree on a deficit-reduction package, according to a report from Kaiser Health News and the Washington Post. While much focus is on possible cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, health advocates are [...]
New military retirees who have enrolled in the Tricare Prime program after Oct. 1 will begin paying higher annual fees, Defense Department officials announced Friday. As of Saturday, individuals will now pay $260 per year, an increase of $30. Retirees with families will pay $520 per year, an increase of $60. These new fees only [...]
The National Institutes of Health will collaborate with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Food and Drug Administration to develop a chip capable of screening new drugs for toxic material before tested on people. The chips will be loaded with specific cell types and would be able to deliver readouts showing how different [...]
The most common cause of large health data breaches in 2010 was theft, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office for Civil Rights. The 11-page report covers breaches covers breaches of more than 500 individuals between Sept. 23, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2010, affecting entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability [...]
Traditional methods of mental healthcare, including face-to-face meetings with a psychologist, were given a high-tech facelift at a demonstration July 21. The National Center for Telehealth and Technology, or T2, presented a workshop at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, guiding providers on offering mental health services from a distance. Armed With Science reports T2’s facelift on mental [...]
HHS CIO Michael Carleton, Photo: CIO.gov Michael Carleton, chief information officer of the Department of Health and Human Services, will retire at the end of next month, FedScoop reports. As HHS CIO, a position he has had since 2007, Carleton also holds the title of deputy assistant secretary for information technology. In both roles, he [...]