ARRA - HITECH & Healthcare Reform News

How To Use This Information: Management, financial, and information technology staff are most likely to find this section of interest and use. Just click on the link to go to directly to the article or source, which are organized in categories of Information Resources, Funding Initiatives, and Policy Developments. If the article has been archived since its original publication, you can search the site using keywords from the title.

General Information

ARRA Stimulus Center, Frequently Asked Questions, Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions
www.allscripts.com/

Announcing the Health IT Buzz Blog
http://healthit.hhs.gov/blog/onc/

Blumenthal: Need to Lift Data Obstacles, Health Data Management
www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/Blumenthal-39358-1.html?zkPrintable=true

Certification Commission for Health Information Technology
www.cchit.org/

eHealth Initiative
www.ehealthinitiative.org

"Economic Stimulus Package and Health Care: Best Practices to Manage EHR and Minimize Security, Privacy, and Compliance Risks," White Paper by Symantec and MessageLabs
www.messagelabs.com

EHR Stimulus Tour
www.ehrstimulustour.com/

HHS Secretary Appoints Members to AHRQ National Advisory Council
www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2009/nac1113pr.htm

HHS Secretary Calls on States and Communities to Get Health Coverage to Uninsured Children
www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/11/20091104a.html

National Coordinator's Office Reorganizes, Stimulus Exchange, Health Data Management
www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/ONC_stimulus_ARRA_Blumenthal-39450-1.html?zkPrintable=true

Sebelius Statement on Benefits of Health Insurance Reform for Businesses
www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/12/20091203a.html

Secretary Sebelius Announces New HHS Regional Directors
www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/11/20091117a.html

Weekly ARRA Updates, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
www.hhs.gov/recovery, http://www.recovery.gov/

"Will ‘Beacon Communities' Shine the Best Light?," by Jeff Rowe, Priming the Pump, Healthcare IT News
http://ehr.healthcareitnews.com/blog/will-"beacon-communities"-shine-best-light

Funding Initiatives

$10 Million in Grants Aimed at Enrolling American Indian, Alaska Native Kids in Health Care to be Awarded
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/11/20091119a.html

Grant Funding Opportunities Supported by ARRA, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health
www.grants.nih.gov/recovery

HITECH Priority Grants Fund Regional Extension Centers, Research Center, and Technical Assistance for States
http://healthit.hhs.gov/extensionprogram

Non-Profit Capacity-Building Program, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs

ONC Announces New ARRA-HITECH Funding Opportunities
1. Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program ($235 million)
2. Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals ($70 million)
3. Curriculum Development Centers ($10 million)
4. Health Information Technology Extension Program
http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=1310&mode=2&cached=true

ONC Readies Medicaid Incentives, Health Data Management
www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/Medicaid_ARRA_stimulus_meaningful_use-39425-1.html?zkPrintable=true

ONC Readies NHIN Contracts, Health Data Management
www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/NHIN-39343-1.html?zkPrintable=true

Partnerships in Implementing Patient Safety II, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, DHHS
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-10-022.html

State, Local & Tribal Government Capacity-Building Program, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs

Strengthening Communities Fund, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs

Policy Developments

Chilmark Research
www.chilmarkresearch.com ("ONC Provides Roadmap for HITECH Act Execution")

Federal Advisory Committees to Meet, Health Data Management
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/ARRA_stimulus_meaningful_use-39424-1.html?zkPrintable=true 

"HITECH Rules on Schedule," Health Data Management
www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/HITECH_rules_meaningful_use-39471-1.html?zkPrintable=true 

HL7 Publishes New Standard for Research [with an EHR], Healthcare Informatics
www.healthcare-informatics.com/ME2/Segments/NewsHeadlines/Print.asp?Module=News&id=C04103FFC6DB4FDD844F91E7D9E24C77

HR.BLR.com [In Your State]
http://hr.blr.com/whitepapers ("Watch Out for HIPAA Changes in ARRA")

ONC Reorganizes Office Around HITECH Implementation Goals, iHealthBeat
www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2009/12/2/onc-reorganizes-office-around-hitech-implementation-goals.aspx#  

Senate Retains Tighter HIPAA Transactions Rules, Health Data Management
www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/reform-39391-1.html?zkPrintable=true

State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program
http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=1336&mode=2&cached=true