The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is launching the “Market R&D Pilot Challenge,” which will bring together health care organizations and innovative companies to test new health information technology products through pilot funding awards and facilitated matchmaking. Pilot proposals could be awarded in three domains: clinical environments (e.g.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has assessed the effectiveness of CMS controls intended to protect the security and privacy of the information and information technology (IT) systems used to support Healthcare.gov. The GAO determined that while CMS has taken steps to protect Healthcare.gov security and privacy, “weaknesses remain both in the processes used for managing

On October 16, 2014, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the HHS Office of the National Coordinator on Health Information Technology (ONC) are holding a public workshop entitled “Putting the Person at the Center: Integrating Plans for Long-Term Services and Supports and Health Care Delivery through Health Information Technology.” The workshop will

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) published a final rule on September 11, 2014 that is intended to introduce regulatory flexibilities with regard to certification to the 2014 Edition Electronic Health Records (EHR) Certification Criteria. The rule also codifies certain revisions to the ONC Health Information Technology (HIT) Certification Program

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley are asking providers, patients, insurers, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders for ideas on ways to improve the availability and utility of health care data, while protecting patient privacy. In particular, the Senators are requesting information on: the data sources that should be made more

Recent Congressional hearings on health policy issues include the following:

  • A House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee “21st Century Cures Roundtable” discussed steps Congress can take to bridge the gap between medical advances and the regulatory policies that govern them, and ultimately advance digital and personalized health care. The panel also released a related white

On Wednesday, April 30, 2014, the House Ways and Means Committee will focus on “Ideas to Improve Medicare Oversight to Reduce Waste, Fraud and Abuse.” On May 1, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee is holding a hearing on “Telehealth to Digital Medicine: How 21st Century Technology Can Benefit Patients.”

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is seeking comments on revisions to health information technology certification regulations for 2015. CMS is updating these criteria more frequently to provide more incremental regulatory changes, give stakeholders earlier information and greater opportunity for input, and respond more quickly to newer industry standards

CMS has released additional tools to help health plans, vendors, and providers prepare to demonstrate that they are compliant with Administrative Simplification Transaction Testing standards and operating rules and that they have completed end-to-end testing with their trading partners. Specifically, CMS has released payer, large provider, small provider, vendor-to-provider, and vendor-to-payer checklists to assist these

President Obama has signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, which provides $1.012 trillion in discretionary funding for the operations of the federal government through September 30, 2014. In addition to setting overall funding levels for HHS agencies, the law specifies funding for numerous HHS policies and initiatives, such as additional funding

The OIG has concluded that the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is not adequately overseeing and enforcing the HIPAA Security Rule. In short, the OIG found that OCR failed to provide for periodic audits, as mandated by HITECH, to ensure that covered entities were in compliance with the Security Rule, and instead continued to

Congressional committees continue to focus on the experience of consumers and insurers since the HealthCare.gov insurance portal launched on October 1, along with potential issues related to the security of personal data transmitted through the site. For instance, House hearings this week include an Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on “ObamaCare Implementation: The Rollout

Recent Congressional hearings on health policy issues include the following:

  • A House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee a hearing entitled “PPACA Pulse Check: Part 2,” focusing on ACA readiness and implementation issues (Part 1 of the hearing was on August 1, 2013).
  • A House Homeland Security Cybersecurity Subcommittee hearing on “The Threat to Americans’ Personal

Recent Congressional hearings have addressed the following health policy issues:

  • The House Energy and Commerce Committee has held hearings on Medicaid reform, implementation of the ACA, and reform of drug compounding regulations. An August 1 hearing entitled “PPACA Pulse Check” will feature testimony by CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.
  • The Senate Finance Committee held two hearings

A number of recent Congressional hearings have focused on health policy issues, including the following:

  • The House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings on bipartisan proposals to redesign the Medicare benefit structure and challenges facing businesses under the ACA. A June 28 hearing will focus on Medicare Part B drug program reforms.
  • House Ways and

On May 3, 2013, CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) are hosting a meeting to discuss electronic health records, the increase in code levels billed for some Medicare services, and appropriate coding in an increasingly-electronic environment. The meeting, which is aimed at providers, health information technology vendors,

Recent Congressional hearings have addressed a number of health policy issues. For instance, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a series of hearings on health information technologies, covering the Administration’s perspectives on innovation and regulation (including a discussion of the Administration’s policies on regulation of mobile medical apps), how innovation benefits patients, and “harnessing