Top News
Election Day (November 8) is tomorrow! Congress will remain in recess until after the election.
Administration
AHRQ Application Programming Interface
A new application programming interface from AHRQ’s Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement (CEPI) aims to make it easier for researchers and clinicians to search, find, and use information from the agency’s evidence-based resources and repositories. The CEPI Evidence Discovery and Retrieval (CEDAR) project allows health IT developers to build platforms that can integrate AHRQ’s research findings into their systems, which can then be used by researchers, clinicians, and patients. Repositories and programs include the Systematic Review Data Repository, the Effective Care Program, CDS Connect, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations. CEDAR is free and publicly available. See details.
CMS Issues RFI on National Provider Directory
As part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) ongoing work to improve access to care, reduce clinician burden, and support interoperability, CMS released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input on the concept of CMS creating a directory with information on health care providers and services or a “National Directory of Healthcare Providers and Services” (NDH). CMS believes this could improve interoperability, patient choice, care coordination, and reduce provider and payer administrative burden. Comments are due December 6.
ONC Announces SDOH Data Pilots
ONC is working with the Gravity Project Pilots Affinity Group to build a more connected data infrastructure supporting the access, exchange, and use of social determinants of health (SDOH) data. Pilot participants will work to test HL7® FHIR® resources made available through the Gravity Project and demonstrate the standards-based exchange of SDOH data elements. Click here for more information.
Data Capture for Clinical Trials
The White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a Request for Information on October 28 seeking input from the public about how a coordinated clinical research system can be deployed in the event of an emerging disease outbreak. For more information, see the ONC blog post.
Office of Civil Rights Produces Video on Security Practices
In recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, OCR has produced a new video this October for organizations covered under the HIPAA Rules on Recognized Security Practices. This presentation is intended to educate the health care industry on the categories of recognized security practices and how entities regulated under the HIPAA Rules may demonstrate implementation. Watch the video.
FDA Digital Health Research Spotlight
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a spotlight on digital health regulatory science research opportunities. The Spotlight highlights common digital health interest areas such as patient-generated health data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cybersecurity, and interoperability, among other topics. Click here for details.
ONC Data Brief: Hospital Capabilities to Enable Patient Electronic Access to Health Information
ONC released a new data brief showing the 2021 national estimates on the proportion of U.S. hospitals that enabled patient electronic access to their health information. View the data brief.
Legislation and Politics
Congress will reconvene after the November election.
Around the Web
- Who Really Are Our Users, and How Can We Help Them?; NLM Musings from the Mezzanine
- Electronic Medical Records Are Strangling American Medicine; MedPage Today
- Study Finds Telehealth May Not Be Best for ED Follow-Up Care; HealthLeaders Media
- FDA commissioner on accelerated approval reforms: ‘Need to address as soon as possible’; Endpoints News
AMIA’s Washington Download is your source for health informatics policy news and information from around the Beltway, covering action from the Hill, the Administration and important AMIA collaborators.