Population Health

On Wednesday, Congress approved $1.1 billion in funding to combat the Zika virus in a short-term spending bill. In doing so, it's sidestepped a government shutdown. The House voted 342-85 and the Senate voted 72-26 to pass the legislation, which will fund the government through December 9 and provide time to work out the long-term spending goals for 2017, The New York Times reported. President Obama supports the bill and is set to sign it into law by Friday. The spending bill was held up for months due to a debate for financing improvements to the lead-tainted water supply in Flint, Michigan. Congress has been under pressure from the White House and other government organizations to pass the law. Vice President Joe Biden told Congress on September 8: "Do your job." [Also: CDC deploys rapid response teams to tackle Zika] The bill no longer includes restrictions to Planned Parenthood clinics, which hindered past negotiations, The New York Times said. The bill also includes funding for military housing, infrastructure and services. Further, the bill passed despite objections from both conservatives and Democrats. The agreement is contingent upon a water projects bill, which would authorize $170 million in spending to areas where the president has declared emergencies - like Flint. "A continuing resolution is a last resort," Rep. Harold Rogers (R) Kentucky and House Appropriations Committee chair said, according to the Times. "But at this point, it's what we must do to fulfill our congressional responsibility to keep the lights on in the government." Twitter: @JessieFDavis Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Healthcare organizations are using electronic health records, patient portals, patient engagement systems and telemedicine tech to boost specific styles of population health initiatives, HIMSS Analytics said.

In response to the Zika outbreak, University of Arizona's College of Public health researchers and the UA Bio Computing Facility have released a crowd-sourcing mobile app to track the disease and help detect outbreaks.

"During National Health IT Week, we recommit ourselves to improving the health of our citizenry using the breakthrough technologies of our time and reaching for the next frontier of innovation," said Obama.

A portion of the funding will develop Biohub, a new research facility that will connect the University of California San Francisco, UC Berkeley and Stanford University.

athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush, eClinicalWorks Founder Girish Navani and Cerner President Zane Burke talk about expanding their technology platforms and, in so doing, shedding a certain three-letter acronym.

Autonomous vehicles got a booster shot of credibility when federal regulators and issued guidance this week. But even before that, researchers were projecting that the emerging technology could reduce automobile-related injuries and deaths, as well as the big expenses they incur. 

The Michael J. Fox Foundation is collaborating with Intel on a Parkinson’s research solution using wearable technology, Intel algorithms, Big Data analytics and the Cloudera distribution of Hadoop.

CEO Jonathan Bush said athenaInsight will mine the company’s network of providers and patients to determine what works at high-performing hospitals as well as the drivers of physician engagement and public health trends.

From treating service members to training clinicians, augmented and virtual reality could soon reshape patient therapy, disease research, medical education and more.