By Patty Enrado, Special Projects Editor
ATLANTA — The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is the most significant piece of legislation to impact the healthcare industry. Although the law has been on the books since February 2009, nearly a year later the Dept. of Health and Human Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) are still laying down the foundation that will guide stakeholders as they begin or expand their health IT initiatives.
At this point, disseminating and discussing information is critical to understanding and fully taking advantage of the multiple programs that will disperse the federal stimulus funds and grants. That’s why HIMSS10 features 22 education sessions dealing with ARRA and its implications for the healthcare industry.
Here are just a few of the HIMSS10 sessions that address ARRA:
ARRA Privacy and Security Workshop, Workshop 200 on Sunday at 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM, is an all-day, interactive workshop that fully explores the requirements of Title XIII, more familiarly known as the HITECH Act. Tom Walsh, president of Tom Walsh Consulting; Lisa Gallagher, senior director of Privacy and Security at HIMSS; Dave Wiseman II, information system security manager for Saint Luke’s Health System; and Joy Jacobsen, privacy/compliance officer at CareEntrust will educate attendees on the What, Why and How To aspects of administering the privacy and security elements of the HITECH Act. Held at the Convention Center, there is a $275 fee to attend this workshop.
A Federal Perspective: ARRA Grants and Programs, Event HIE-3, on Sunday at 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM in Room B308, features a panel of federal officials that will cover ARRA HIT programs and explain how they align with the overall nationwide health IT agenda and healthcare initiatives. The panel includes Chris Muir, senior program analyst for ONC; Richard Friedman, director of the Division of State Systems for the Center for Medicaid and State Operations; Jessica Pollack Kahn, project officer for the Medicaid Transformation and High-Risk Insurance Pool Grants for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); and Matthew Kendall, senior advisor for ONC.
Federal Officials Session, Education Session 41, on Monday at 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM in the Georgia Ballroom 3, looks at the health IT component of healthcare policy and reform. U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) will discuss health IT as it appears in federal legislation today and how it will be addressed in the future. A Q&A session will follow, allowing attendees to understand how HIMSS members can participate in legislative activities.
What Does the Future of the Ambulatory Practice Look Like in a Post-ARRA Era? Event 113, on Tuesday at 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM in Room B406, features a look into the future of what a physician practice would look like after 2015 if it implemented an EHR system. A. John Blair, III, MD, president of Taconia IPA, and Karen Bell, MD, vice president of Health Information Technology Services for CMS, will deliver that vision.
In upcoming posts, Destination HIMSS10 will look at the exhibition sessions that focus on ARRA.