The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act) includes provisions to advance the use of health IT and, at the same time, strengthen privacy and security protections for health information. In response, on 16Apr09 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
announced a proposed set of guidelines to deal with PHR data breaches. The FTC is formally seeking comment. The full text of the…
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Added by Clymer/JR on April 20, 2009 at 10:18am —
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eWeek
reports that Google's open source mobile platform 'Android' is finally gathering steam despite a slow start in gathering corporate recruits as part of the OHA (Open Handset Alliance). This is all to the good for the user community. The iPhone remains the dominant player in the 'smart-phone' market, but even Apple must be concerned about the competition looming from…
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Added by Clymer/JR on April 7, 2009 at 11:00am —
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HIMSS Analytics announced its
findings which portray a far more optimistic picture regarding EMR implementation, than an
analysis reported in the 29Mar09 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, which, in marked contra-distinction, concluded that a nation-wide deployment of hospital based electronic records was still in a rudimentary stage. Both studies…
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Added by Clymer/JR on April 6, 2009 at 11:30am —
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The famous Frank Sinatra song goes, "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere". Well, "The Grey Lady" is now
reporting that the New York-Presbyterian Hospital System (accountable for ~20% of all NYC healthcare) has inaugurated its consumer-controlled health records for patients under its care. This large-scale PHR implementation will be…
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Added by Clymer/JR on April 6, 2009 at 11:30am —
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For those interested, an
article in GCN summarizes the awards for Best of FOSE'09. These awards are in multiple categories, and include both hardware and software solutions available under government contract.
Added by Clymer/JR on April 1, 2009 at 10:30am —
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In an earlier blog, I posted an
analysis of the "open standards" effort in cloud computing, and the opposition coming from Microsoft. Yesterday, 30Mar09, IBM, Sun Microsystems & other collaborators released specifics on a proposed interoperability architecture which they dub the…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 31, 2009 at 11:00am —
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Shakespeare's Hamlet utters..."the lady doth protest too much, me thinks". In a remarkable statement, Microsoft (arguably the archetype software predator) is complaining that "Cloud Computing" standards need to be more open. Though on its face, some may see this as the very height of hypocrisy, others now believe that reality has forced a change in azimuth for this behemoth. Could Microsoft's apparent embrace of open standards and interoperability be genuine. Read this interesting…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 27, 2009 at 12:30pm —
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The Harvard Clinical & Translational Science Center
announced that it has completed its first round of
Harvard Catalyst Pilot Grants funding. Harvard's Center is part of the national
CTSA initiative managed by NIH. You can read more about the 62 grant recipients…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 23, 2009 at 1:07pm —
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The buzz over the last few days has been about the prospects of malpractice litigation reform as a part of the Obama administration's ambitious plans for overhaul of the US healthcare system. Read the latest from Associated Press
AP1 ,
AP2. Given how beholden the party in power is to trial…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 17, 2009 at 4:30pm —
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AP
reports on a considered change by the Dept of Health & Human Services (DHHS) in the "conscience" clause, which as implemented by the Bush administration, expanded protection for medical providers refusing to perform procedures on "moral grounds". There has been a heated debate between abortion opponents who favor these new rules, and advocates who fear a wholesale denial of services. The Obama…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 3, 2009 at 3:00pm —
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It had been at least 24 hours without a new Microsoft law suit. Well, they're at it again in classic Microsoft fashion with minions of attorneys trying legal intimidation to suppress anything NIH (not invented here). This time, they're suing Tom-Tom. The case is interesting, because it calls a lie to company efforts to coexist with the Linux open-source community. Read commentary from open source experts in this…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 3, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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Although many social networks have abandoned disease-specific groupings to solicit clinical trial candidates, the concept (patient-to-trial matchmaking service) is being resurrected with some new twists. Read about it in this
article from eCliniqua.
Added by Clymer/JR on March 2, 2009 at 8:30pm —
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SCREED ALERT!!! (Not a typo, although 'SCREWED' may be equally appropriate)
Orwell called it 'newspeak' and 'doublethink', and I'm beginning to feel like "1984"'s Winston Smith. MedTechIQ recently revealed a freshly minted OMB instrument entitled
A New Era of Responsibility-Renewing America’s Promise. Is anyone really swallowing whole this offensive drivel? Sadly, I know the answer, and it…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 2, 2009 at 7:30pm —
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An interesting
article, exposing PHR vulnerabilities. M. Eric Johnson, director of the Center for Digital Strategies at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, was able to access electronic medical records on computers that had the peer-to-peer programs stored on their hard drives. The medical files contained detailed personal data on physical and mental diagnoses, which a hacker could use to not only embarrass a patient but also to…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 2, 2009 at 1:21pm —
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Though somewhat technical, this
paper addresses growing concerns over browser insecurity. It describes the current climate well:
as web sites (have) evolved into dynamic web applications composing content from various sources, browsers have become multi-principal operating environments with resources shared among mutually distrusting web site principals. The paper introduces readers to a Microsoft Research/Univ of…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 2, 2009 at 10:58am —
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If you think
cloud, think
virtualization, think large cap companies investing in data center delivery services, think Intel 'Nehalem™' processors, and now think…
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Added by Clymer/JR on March 2, 2009 at 10:20am —
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It was bound to happen. The dominant position of Google's search engine is now being challenged in the courts, not simply in the marketplace. The allegation is anything but frivolous; SourceTool.com
claims that
Google has engaged in anti-competitive activities, illegal under the Sherman Antitrust Act.…
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Added by Clymer/JR on February 20, 2009 at 11:30am —
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TheStreet.com
reports that
Apple™ may be scheduling a Jun'09 release of an 'iPhone light' at the sweet entry price of $99. If so, predictions call for the iPhone to account for nearly 20% of the 'smartphone' market. If that alone isn't enticing, rumors suggest that Apple is also considering unlocking its exclusive AT+T arrangement…
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Added by Clymer/JR on February 13, 2009 at 11:00am —
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A late, but formidable entry into the Cloud Computing space, IBM
announced yesterday that it, too, is making a substantial business commitment to providing virtual data centers for its clients. Previously services were buried deep inside the "Big-Blue" labyrinth. The importance IBM attaches to this business area is now evident through a new Blue Cloud…
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Added by Clymer/JR on February 11, 2009 at 10:00am —
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The new Obama administration used Web2.0 with great success during the presidential campaign, and has committed to utilizing this social infrastructure to enhance the value of eGov. A
report analyzes the incumbent hurdles (many of which are cultural rather than technical) to achieve this laudable goal.
Added by Clymer/JR on December 23, 2008 at 12:44pm —
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