Latest California Healthline Stories
HHS Secretary Sebelius Adopts Initial Enrollment Recs
On Friday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius accepted initial recommendations, developed by the Health IT Standards and Policy committees’ enrollment work group, that aim to improve the enrollment process for health and human services programs.
Health IT Moves Forward With Privacy, Consent
ONC’s Health IT Policy Committee recently approved patient privacy recommendations from the privacy and security work group — the Tiger Team — making headway on one of the thorniest issues confronting the growth of electronic records in health care.
Let the Tele-Doctoring Continue, Expand
From a health policy point of view, the star power was out in force at yesterday’s official inauguration of the California Telehealth Network.
Aneesh Chopra, national chief technology officer, was chatting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The head of health sciences and services for the UC system, Jack Stobo, was nodding at something said by Sharon Gillette, bureau chief for the FCC.
They were all out to announce the success and expansion of a telemedicine pilot project that has been running since 2007. With the help of $22 million from the FCC’s broadband initiative — one of the largest grants awarded by the agency — and another $3.6 million of corporate money pitched in by the California Emerging Technology Fund, the state officially launched its CTN agency yesterday.
Information Exchanges Show Signs of Progress
The national effort to establish a network of health information exchanges could streamline health care costs and provide medical professionals with more timely and accurate patient information, by electronically merging information between physicians, laboratories, pharmacies and hospitals.
The goal is to have less paperwork, less duplication of services, better patient outcomes and to lower costs for everyone.
Health information exchanges have received a lot of media attention recently, but exchanges have been operating around the country for the past seven years. And the number of those information exchanges has been steadily rising every year, both nationally and in California.
Customer Experience Ignored in Health Care?
Health professionals gathered in San Diego this week for the annual Health Unbound Conference to discuss the latest array of promising devices for making patients’ lives better — self-monitoring devices, home telehealth, social media and other e-health tools and advances.
But here’s the thing, said one speaker at the conference: There are so many useful devices and applications being developed to help patients achieve better health and longer lives, but getting those patients to use that technology can be a huge challenge.
“In general, health is a very intangible outcome,” Elizabeth Boehm of Forrester Research said, adding, “What does it mean to be slightly healthier? You’re talking about adding years to the end of my life, but the stuff that’s unhealthy has a shorter-term payoff. It usually tastes good, feels good, supplies immediate pleasure. It’s hard to get people to engage and use those long-term tools that make their health better.”
California’s New Health Information Exchange Hires CEO
Carladenise Edwards, former health IT coordinator for the state of Georgia and health IT adviser in Florida, is the new president and CEO of Cal eConnect and will manage California’s $38.8 million federal grant for health information exchange.
ARRA Projects Move Ahead for Health IT, Broadband
Although health care reform has moved into the national spotlight, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 continues to develop health care-related projects and grant programs. This update summarizes significant developments over the past few months.
Telemedicine Struggles in Central Valley Amid Hope, Hardship
Despite investments in infrastructure, widespread use of telemedicine has yet to take hold in San Joaquin Valley, an area of California that could benefit greatly from the technology. The Valley’s experience could hold lessons for the rest of the state.
Making the Most of Health IT, Health Reform Overlaps
David Lansky, co-chair of the new organization managing the state’s electronic information exchange, and Jonah Frohlich, state HHS deputy secretary for health IT, identify areas where health care reform and health IT might work together for greatest impact in California.
California’s Medi-Cal Automation System May Get a Reboot
The computer systems that manage California’s human services programs — including Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program — are nearing the end of their useful lives. Legislators are trying to figure out how the cash-strapped state can pay for new ones.