Federal Register | Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program-Stage 2

Federal Register | Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program-Stage 2:
On September 4, 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the Stage 2 Meaningful Use Regulations that include several core objectives to promote patient engagement through EHR technology. Specifically, under the Stage 2 Meaningful Use Regulations, a provider must demonstrate that its EHR is able to perform certain tasks with a defined percentage of its patients: 1) to send messages to and from the patient; 2) the permit the patient to view online, download and transmit his or her health information within certain time frames; and 3) to identify patient-specific education resources and provide those resources to the patient. Ultimately, a provider's EHR technology will have to be able to meet these core objectives for all of its patients. HHS will add further meaningful use requirements over the next few years.
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Improving care delivery through enhanced communications among providers, patients, and payers

While mHealth traditionally stands for “mobile health,” this Task Force adopted the term more broadly to refer to mobile health, wireless health, and e‐Care technologies that improve patient care and the efficiency of healthcare delivery.

This Task Force report sets goals and recommendations for the FCC, other federal agencies, and industry to help leverage communication technologies to improve healthcare quality, access and efficiency.
This report is delivered with the overarching goal that by 2017 mHealth, wireless health and e‐Care solutions will be routinely available as part of best practices for medical care.  FCC leadership as well as interagency collaborations will be needed to address technical and policy barriers, including developing appropriate reimbursement and financial incentives.


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Confronting the Social Determinants of Health — Obesity, Neglect, and Inequity — NEJM

Confronting the Social Determinants of Health — Obesity, Neglect, and Inequity — NEJM: "If we are to break the vicious cycle of inequality and uphold the tradition of physicians as champions of social justice in the global arena, we must widen our perspective beyond the individual to confront the “causes of the causes” at multiple levels, so as to help create social and physical environments that promote good health for all. In the same vein, multipronged approaches that include cross-sectorial collaboration among nontraditional partners (including health care providers, lawmakers, and welfare workers) and bold change in social policy are needed to ensure equal health and justice for all. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us.”"

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Drug Policy for an Aging Population — The European Medicines Agency's Geriatric Medicines Strategy — NEJM

Drug Policy for an Aging Population — The European Medicines Agency's Geriatric Medicines Strategy — NEJM: "Although population aging is a mark of the success of public health policies, it also challenges the established way of implementing such policies. In the case of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), it has prompted an analysis of whether the regulatory system is adapted to taking the needs of older people into account in the development, approval, and use of medications."

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Lessons from Sandy — Preparing Health Systems for Future Disasters — NEJM

Lessons from Sandy — Preparing Health Systems for Future Disasters — NEJM: "Although experience is a great teacher, science can and should also inform disaster policy. Too often it does not. Careful tracking of important health and mental health problems that confound recovery, for instance, may lead to appropriate interventions that can help reduce morbidity associated with the inevitable next catastrophe."

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The Future of Obamacare — NEJM

The Future of Obamacare — NEJM: "Even as repeal fades from the agenda, then, there are many important political fights to come that will shape the future of Obamacare. The outcome of struggles over insurance subsidies and benefits, costs and financing, Medicaid and many other issues will determine whether the ACA is maintained, expanded, or undermined."

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USDOJ: South Carolina-based Harmony Care Hospice Inc. and CEO/Owner Daniel J. Burton to Pay U.S. $1.286 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

USDOJ: South Carolina-based Harmony Care Hospice Inc. and CEO/Owner Daniel J. Burton to Pay U.S. $1.286 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations: "
Today’s settlement with Harmony and Burton resolves a lawsuit filed by former Harmony employees Mona Singletary and Lynda Fulton under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act.   Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring suit for false claims on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. Together, Singletary and Fulton will receive $244,529.87 as their share of the government’s recovery.
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