Top News
HHS Secretary Transfers ARPA-H to NIH
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra has transferred the administration of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this transfer, NIH may not subject ARPA-H to NIH policies. Click here for more information.
Administration
AHRQ Call for Nominations – EPC Program
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Program seeks input on future topics for evidence reports. The AHRQ EPC Program reviews and summarizes the available evidence on current health care issues, such as tests, treatments, and methods of health care delivery, and describes their advantages or disadvantages. The EPC program will review nominations for potential reports that could start later this year. Click here for details. You may suggest a topic until June 3.
CMS New Video Series – eCQM FHIR® Sparks
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed a new video series on education and outreach for emerging standards. The series, titled Electronic Clinical Quality Measure (eCQM) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources® (FHIR®) Sparks, is intended to support healthcare quality leaders, health information technology vendors, and measure developers to explore the use of FHIR for quality measurement. The series includes five video shorts covering several topics: What is FHIR?, Anatomy of eCQMs in FHIR, Writing Measures in QI-Core: A Closer Look, Representing Encounters with QI-Core, Introducing the Quality Measure Implementation Guide. For more information about FHIR see the Electronic Clinical Quality Improvement Resource Center FHIR page.
OIG Audit Finds HHS Cybersecurity Program “Not Effective”
A recently released Office of Inspector General (OIG) performance audit found deficiencies in HHS compliance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act, noting HHS did not meet compliance with five of five function areas: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover. Click here for the detailed report.
Legislation & Politics
Kelly Introduces HEAA
Representative Robin Kelly, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA). HEAA is a comprehensive and strategic legislative roadmap that aims to eliminate racial and ethnic health inequities. The focal areas are: data collection and reporting; culturally and linguistically appropriate health and health care; health workforce diversity; improving health care access and quality; improving health outcomes for women, children, and families; mental health and substance use disorders; addressing high impact minority diseases; health information technology; accountability and evaluation; and addressing social determinants and improving environmental justice.
Around the Web
- Physicians, Telemedicine Groups Collaborate on Digital Health Assessment Framework, Healthcare Innovation
- HHS puts $90M toward improving health center data collection, FedScoop
- Medicaid Administrative Data: Challenges with Race, Ethnicity, and Other Demographic Variables, Kaiser Family Foundation