Government & Policy

The agency said it plans to add some 1,900 diagnosis codes and 3,651 hospital inpatient procedure codes to ICD-10.

CMS said it plans to add about 1,900 diagnosis codes and 3,651 hospital inpatient procedure codes to the coding system.

Saying that smaller government equates to greater freedom, the Republican candidate vowed to abolish the IRS, cut welfare and follow Reagan's lead to bolster U.S. military in a speech taking aim at Donald Trump while also welcoming Marco Rubio backers.

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz promised during a nighttime speech in his home state that he would kill the Affordable Care Act, “abolish” the Internal Revenue Service, stop amnesty and rebuild the military. Shortly after Florida Sen. Marco Rubio effectively lost his home state and bowed out of the race, Cruz’s overarching theme was that “beginning tomorrow morning” the battle is between Cruz and Trump. [Also: Trump releases broad outline of health reforms to replace Obamacare] “When I’m President we will repeal every word of Obamacare,” Cruz said. “We will make Washington less relevant.” Cruz continued that his top three priorities as President would be jobs, freedom and security. The job creation issue spans many industries and Cruz was not particular to just healthcare, of course. Cruz pointed to the specific freedoms as religious beliefs and protecting citizens’ Second Amendment rights to own firearms. And when it comes to security he cited former Republican President Ronald Reagan and how he bolstered the military to win the Cold War as a model for how we would, if elected, take on ISIS. Cruz also promised to reform the Internal Revenue Service by instituting a flat tax, ending amnesty and welfare benefits for people living in America illegally, and getting the government “off the backs” of small business owners across the country. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] “We’ll fire regulators,” Cruz explained. “Less government is more freedom.” Although Ohio Rep. Governor John Kasich is still running, Cruz is calling it a two-candidate race at this point. What with Trump’s 621 delegates versus Cruz’s 396 and primary elections in winner-take-all states such as California, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin still to come, it’s still too soon to say that either Cruz or Trump is precluded from winning the nomination ahead of the Republican National Convention come July 18-21, 2016. Twitter: @SullyHIT

A recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General claims that HHS could do better when it comes to protecting federal information.  The gaps range from monitoring to security training and contingency planning. "Exploitation of these weaknesses could result in unauthorized access to, and disclosure of, sensitive information and disruption of critical operations for HHS," according to Ernst & Young, which conducted the independent audit for the OIG. "As a result, we believe the weaknesses could potentially compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of HHS' sensitive information and information systems." [Also: OIG identifies big HHS security shortfalls.] Assistant Inspector General for Audit Services Thomas M. Salmon detailed the findings in a March 2016 report by identifying the 10 areas the auditors found lacking. HHS responded to each finding, concurring with some, taking issue with others: Continuous Monitoring Management. HHS has formalized its Information Security Continuous Monitoring program through development of ISCM policies, procedures, and strategies. However, HHS has not implemented a Department-wide fully-implemented continuous monitoring program which includes continuously monitoring, updating and finalizing policies and procedures indicating how OPDIVs (operational divisions) address, implement strategies and report on DHS metrics. This includes vulnerability management, software assurance, information management, patch management, license management, event management, malware detection, asset management, and network management. Configuration Management. Some OPDIVs did not consistently review and remediate or address the risk presented by vulnerabilities discovered in configuration baseline compliance and vulnerability scans performed through Security Content Automation Protocol tools. Identity and Access Management. Some OPDIVs did not consistently implement account management procedures for shared accounts, new personnel, transferred personnel and terminated personnel. Incident Response and Reporting. Oversight processes had not been implemented by HHS to enforce incident response and reporting procedures at the OPDIVs. Risk Management. HHS did not implement procedures to oversee that system inventories are complete, accurate and effectively managed, including reconciling to the OPDIV-managed system inventory tools. Security Training. Some OPDIVs did not monitor the completion of role-based training for significant security responsibilities and other security training for personnel using IT systems. Plan of Action and Milestones. Plan of Action & Milestones were not consistently documented and tracked by the OPDIVs and HHS. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Remote Access Management. Some OPDIVs had not developed formal and finalized remote access policies and procedures. Contingency Planning. Some OPDIVs did not complete required contingency planning documentation, including Business Impact Analysis, Continuity of Operation Plans, and Information System Contingency Plans. Contractor Systems. Some OPDIVs did not have an effective contractor oversight protocols. Twitter: @HealthITNews

Assistant U.S. Surgeon General Rear Admiral Michelle E. Dunwoody is taking on a temporary senior advisor role to Flint Mayor Karen Weaver as the Michigan city continues to grapple with a water crisis, HHS announced on Friday.  Dunwoody will work with Weaver to establish both short- and long-term goals for the City of Flint Public Health and Medical Recovery and work with city officials to outline the job description for a future full-time Flint-employed Public Health official, while providing insight to building and managing public health and medical infrastructure.  “My priority has always been, and will always be, that Flint’s families have the resources they deserve, as well a voice which allows them a say in how their community’s future is built,” Weaver said in a statement. The partnership is "an opportunity to continue building relationships, while ensuring some of our country’s best experts are working with us to find solutions.”  To that end, Dunwoody will also oversee a Corps-based community engagement team. "Admiral Dunwoody brings a wealth of expertise to expand the technical capability of the Mayor’s office and ensure Flint develops the local expertise needed to help the community recover in the days, months and years to come," HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Nicole Lurie said in a statement.  Nearly 500,000 residents of Flint have been exposed to water contaminated by lead, and currently much of the city is living off of bottled water rations. The appointment comes after a Commissioned Corps strike force cleared a backlog of blood lead level screening results in partnership with the Genesee County Health Department. HHS leaders have made several visits to Flint to assess the crisis, including Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Acting Assistant Secretary for Health Karen DeSalvo and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] "Ensuring the men, women and children of Flint have the same opportunity as all Americans to live healthy lives is a team effort, and I have seen first-hand just how dedicated city leaders, city and county health officials, and our Commissioned Corps officers have been to that cause,” said DeSalvo in a statement. The Commissioned Corps are made of up doctors, nurses, scientists and engineers. Over 30 officers have responded to the Flint water crisis; assisting with behavioral health training, supporting volunteers in community engagement efforts, helping to staff the Genesee County Health Department's information line and providing materials to answer callers' questions. “The people of Flint need clean water. They need medical care. And, above all, they need trusted voices to communicate the best available public health information in the midst of a crisis,” Murthy, Commissioned Corps commander, said in a statement. Twitter: @JessiefDavis

Twenty-one companies were awarded spots on the Department of Veterans Affairs' $22.3 billion Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation acquisition program, or T4NG, the federal agency announced this week. The IT modernization project supports the MyVA Initiative -- designed to realign and integrate the VA's disparate organizational boundaries to better serve veterans. This award is unrelated to the VA's recently reported discussions around its VistA electronic health record system. [Also: CIO says VA should rethink VistA, consider other off-the-shelf EHRs] "This T4NG award is one of the many ways the Department is supporting the MyVA breakthrough initiatives by directly providing the technology our Veterans need to support the services they receive from VA," said VA Secretary Robert McDonald, in a statement. "The T4NG will help meet and strengthen VA's long-term technology needs." T4NG will deliver awardees contractor-provided IT service solutions, such as technical support, program management, strategy planning, systems/software engineering, enterprise network engineering, cybersecurity and other IT and health IT support. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Under T4NG, the firms can bid on any T4NG requirements or service task orders. The base ordering period is five years and a five-year option period. Among the firms included in the IT contracts were Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI-ISS, HMS Technologies, Kforce Government Solutions, Ellumen and SRA International. This round of T4NG awardees builds upon the last five-year, $12 billion T4 contract given to 15 vendors in July 2011. Some companies, such as Booz Allen and CACI were included in the 2011 awards. Twitter: @JessiefDavis

Clinton's votes more than doubled those of Bernie Sanders, who came in second in the survey conducted on the show floor at HIMSS16.

Step-by-step tools help providers unlock data to help prevent cardiovascular events.

Especially since participants in a recent survey indicated that they wasted time and money on measures that are not clinically relevant, some are starting to ask whether its worth it?