The feature topic in September was "Federal Government Priorities in Health Care Technology: the View from Congress and the Administration." We had speakers from Congress and the Executive Branch, and the government relations community to discuss the government's major priorities and activities in this space and how they plan to address them. Diana Birkett from the Senate Finance Committee spoke about legislative priorities, and Scott Young from AHRQ spoke about the Administration's agenda. Thomas M. Leary, Director, Federal Affairs, HIMSS also made a presentation on various government priorities for advancing the development of information technology. Former DHHS Secretary and US Senator Richard Schweiker made remarks comparing the emergency disaster response in hurricane Katrina with his experiences with disaster preparedness in past years.
We also heard from Joan Duke, Jim Oakes, and others at HCIC, a prominent health technology consulting firm, about an electronic records implementation project they have been commissioned for by the State of Delaware.
(Copies of presentation materials are attached below)
*** "Legislative/Executive Branch Update" by Thomas M. Leary, Director of Federal Affairs at HIMSS