During a Monday briefing at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's 2010 conference, Military Health System CIO Charles Campbell said his group has set up a version of its AHLTA electronic health record system for use in the White House, Government Health IT reports.
The White House system will be available in the residence's clinic, at Camp David, and aboard Air Force One and Marine One.
The EHR system is based on the Department of Defense's AHLTA Theater, which can store digital health records and other data in conditions where no transmission signals are available (McCloskey, Government Health IT, 3/1).
Some Lawmakers Plan To Ask for Postponement of 'Meaningful Use'
On Monday, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) announced that some congressional lawmakers are planning to ask federal officials to postpone the start date for when providers must demonstrate "meaningful use" of health IT to qualify for incentive payments through the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, Healthcare IT News reports.
Price spoke during a health policy session at the HIMSS 2010 conference.
Currently, the stimulus provisions call for hospitals to begin collecting data by Oct. 1, 2010, and physicians to begin by Jan. 1, 2011. Price said a bipartisan group of House members believe the deadline is too soon and that providers will not be ready in time (Manos [1], Healthcare IT News, 3/1).
Expert Offers Advice for Securing Health IT Grants
During a Monday session at the HIMSS conference, Regenstrief Institute health IT project manager Brian Dixon offered tips on how health care organizations can apply for grants and other financial assistance for their health IT initiatives, InformationWeek reports (Kolbasuk McGee, InformationWeek, 3/1).
Dixon recommended that health care providers:
- Prepare for grant applications by creating a formal evaluation plan that assesses patient safety, quality of care, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes;
- Leverage advanced online search engine functions to find grants; and
- Use professional, fee-based services for grant assistance (Goedert, Health Data Management, 3/1).
HIMSS Official Addresses Stimulus Privacy, Security Rules
On Sunday, HIMSS Senior Director of Privacy and Security Lisa Gallagher ran a workshop on how health care providers can prepare for the privacy and security provisions of the stimulus package, Healthcare IT News reports.
Gallagher noted that CMS' proposed meaningful use rule contains limited information on privacy and security. However, she noted that CMS likely will expand on the provisions when it finalizes the rule in late spring (Manos [2], Healthcare IT News, 3/1).