Requirements identical for Defense, VA health record systemBY BOB BREWIN, [1] BBREWIN@GOVEXEC.COM

• Development of a joint inpatient electronic health records system will satisfy almost all the requirements of the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, according to a long sequestered report obtained by Nextgov.Comment on this article in The Forum.The report, prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton in January, said Defense and VA share a common definition of an inpatient electronic health record and both share similar functional requirements to manage patient care. Booz Allen analyzed more than 1,800 functional requirements and determined that 97 percent of them were similar and only 3 percent were specific to each department. The differences primarily involved admission, discharge and transfer capabilities.”This overwhelming level of jointness confirms the main hypothesis of this study that DoD and VA care for patients in a similar manner and thus have similar functional requirements,” the report concluded.

  Full story: [2] http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081203_5767.php?zone=NGpopularAgency to assess value of electronic health networksBY JILL R. AITORO, [3] JAITORO@GOVEXEC.COM

• A research group within the Health and Human Services Department plans to determine the value doctors derive from electronic records by distributing questionnaires and conducting focus groups in Colorado.Comment on this article in The Forum.The two-year project is expected to cost nearly $34,000 if approved by the Office of Management and Budget, and is designed to gather clinicians’ feedback on a soon-to-be-launched online portal that will allow Colorado health care providers to find and organize patients’ medical histories from multiple sources. Colorado is one of six states under contract with the HHS Healthcare Research Quality Agency to build such portals.”While many have hailed the development of [health information exchanges], only a handful have been developed, few have survived, and even fewer have clearly proved beneficial to their stakeholders, making each case study worthy of investigation,” the agency stated in a November 2008 document making the case for the evaluation.

  Full story: [4] http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081202_3133.php?zone=NGpopularState Department unveils social networking siteBY KELLIE LUNNEY, [5] KLUNNEY@GOVEXEC.COM

• The State Department has launched a social networking site to promote international exchanges and enhance the United States’ image abroad, particularly among young people.Comment on this article in The Forum.ExchangesConnect, administered by the department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, includes blog postings, photos and videos from users across the world interested in trading information on culture, language and global education programs. A newly designed Web site, [6] exchanges.state.gov, is a portal to the social network and the agency’s Facebook page. ExchangesConnect is free, but requires users to fill out a brief online registration.”It’s a natural expansion of our exchange programs,” said Goli Ameri, outgoing assistant secretary of education and cultural affairs, in an interview with Government Executive.

  Full story: [7] http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081201_3236.php?zone=NGpopular

• Key tech players aid Obama transition behind the scenesBY DAVID HATCH, CONGRESSDAILY

• President-elect Obama’s review of likely changes at the FCC has been delegated publicly to two respected professors, but there are plenty of communications executives working behind the scenes to influence decisions about the agency and the incoming administration’s approach to tech policy.Comment on this article in The Forum.Several hold official titles with the transition, but many others are relying on informal ties to have their voices heard on policy matters while staying out of the spotlight. For the transition team, the result is a tightrope walk with the watchdog community on one side of the balance rod and corporate interests on the other.Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach, professors at the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively, are heading up the FCC review. They sit on the advisory board of Public Knowledge, best known for advocating unfettered access to Internet content and less-restrictive copyright laws. “We’re not going to be a government that’s run by corporate lobbyists. That’s the message,” said Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder of the group.

  Full story: [8] http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081201_2456.php?zone=NGpopular[9] RETURN TO TOP

• Air Force CIO says cybersecurity federal “Achilles’ heel”BY JILL R. AITORO, [3] JAITORO@GOVEXEC.COMUntil best practices in information security become pervasive across all aspects of the enterprise, agencies’ networks remain at risk, said a top technology chief with the Air Force at a conference Wednesday, calling cybersecurity one of the federal government’s most overlooked and critical weaknesses.Comment on this article in The Forum.”There’s too much fighting about cyber — how big [a concern] it is, who owns it,” said Lt. Gen. Michael Peterson, chief information officer at the Air Force, during a keynote at Air Force IT Day, sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association of Northern Virginia.”This is our Achilles’ heel,” he said. “It’s not about a denial-of-service attack; it’s about the information on the network — ensuring it’s accurate, protected, and available. [But] we’re still fighting over what patch to put on.”

  Full story: [11] http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081203_1212.php?zone=NGpopularSenators consider their options for health IT overhaulBY ANDREW NOYES, CONGRESSDAILY

• The GOP co-sponsor of Senate legislation to facilitate the nationwide adoption of electronic medical records would consider supporting attaching health information-technology language to an economic stimulus package that lawmakers expect to roll out early next year.Comment on this article in The Forum.An aide to Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Michael Enzi said today that the senator has not seen sufficient details of an economic proposal to know whether adding health IT to the mix would “blow the budget.” HELP Chairman Edward Kennedy and Enzi introduced legislation more than a year ago aimed at reducing health providers’ administrative costs and minimizing the sometimes fatal errors caused by a lack of patient information. Privacy issues and funding concerns prevented the measure from reaching the floor.A Kennedy spokeswoman would not comment on the proposed stimulus package but said the senator backs “quick action on the investments in health IT that President-elect Obama has called for.”