A Weekly Update on the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

North Carolina HIT Strategic Planning Task Force
Governor Perdue has established the North Carolina HIT Strategic Planning Task Force within the NC Recovery Office (http://www.ncrecovery.gov/) "to engage key stakeholders to start work immediately to develop a plan by mid-May 2009 when the federal regulations regarding application for these HIT funds is expected to be published." It is expected that the Task Force will develop a comprehensive HIT plan to guide policy and prioritize funding decisions. Below is a list of current Task Force members:

  • Chair: Steve Cline, DDS, MPH, NC Division of Public Health
  • Asif Ahmad, MBA, Duke University Health System & Duke University Medical Center
  • Ben Alexander, MD, WakeMed Health and Hospitals
  • Holt Anderson, NCHICA
  • Phil Brown, NC Consumer Advisory Council on Health Information
  • Hadley Calloway, MD, Raleigh Orthopedic Clinic
  • Tim Carey, MD, MPH, Sheps Center & UNC School of Public Health
  • Sam Cykert, Moses Cone Hospital and Area Health Education Center System
  • Allen Dobson, MD, FAAFP, Carolinas Health System & Cabarrus Family Medicine
  • Laura Gerald, MD, MPH, Community Care of North Carolina
  • Stuart James, MBA, CHE, University Health Systems of Eastern North Carolina
  • Arlo Jennings, PhD, Mission Hospitals
  • Jill Moore, JD, MPH, UNC School of Government
  • Harry Reynolds, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC
  • Kevin Schulman, MD, The Fuqua School of Medicine, Duke University
  • Samuel Spicer, MD, New Hanover Regional Medical Center
  • John Tote, Mental Health Association in North Carolina, Inc.

Subject Matter Experts and Resource Individuals:

  • Jennifer Anderson, MHSA, PMP, The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence
  • Clyde Brooks, MD, East Carolina University
  • Janis Curtis, Duke University Health System
  • Larrie Dawkins, CMPE, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
  • Mike Fenton, NC Office of Information Technology Services
  • Jim Hazelrigs, North Carolina Division of Medical Assistance
  • Donald Horton, JD, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings
  • Lisa Haire, DHHS Mental Health
  • Rebecca Kitzmiller, MHR, MSN, Duke University Health System
  • Denny McGuire, NC Office of Information Technology Services
  • Mona Moon, North Carolina State Health Plan
  • Angie Sligh, NC Office of MMIS Services
  • David Stratton,Capital Care Collaborative
  • Andrew Weniger, CPA, NCHICA
  • Billy Willis, NC Office of Information Technology Services

Staff:

  • Sandra Trivett, MPA, Office of the Secretary, NC DHHS
  • Jim L. Williams, Office of the Secretary, NC DHHS

Ex-Officio:

  • John Dervin, Office of the Governor
  • Allen Feezor, DHHS
  • John Frank, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust
  • Dan Gitterman, Office of the Governor
  • Kathy Higgins, The Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of North Carolina
  • Daphne Lyon, NC Office of Economic Recovery and Investment
  • Mary Piepenbring, The Duke Endowment
  • Vandana Shah, Health and Wellness Trust Fund
  • Jonathan Wormer, NC Office of State Budget and Management
  • Golden Leaf Foundation representative

NC HIT Strategic Planning Task Force Meetings
The Task Force met three times, on April 13, 20 and 27, in the Administration Building, 116 West Jones Street in Raleigh (http://ncrecovery.gov/calendar/publicMeetings.aspx). All meetings are open to the public. Future meetings are scheduled for May 4, 11 and 18 from 9:00 am - 12:30 pm. If NCHICA members are planning to go, arrive early as seating is very limited.

  • April 13: The first meeting was primarily used to ensure the Task Force members and the few attending members of the public met each other. Commitments were made to leverage existing North Carolina successes.
  • April 20: During the April 20th session, Dr. Tom Ricketts of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research presented an overview of health demographics in North Carolina (click here to view). The Task Force was divided into six workgroups who were charged with brainstorming on the impact and opportunities of HIT.
  • April 27: The April 27th session was a standing room only meeting, with nearly 75 members of the public in attendance. The Task Force heard overview presentations on HIT and HIE achievements from Community Care of North Carolina, Duke University, WakeMed and Mission Health System/DataLink. Click here to see a handout prepared for discussion. Subsequently the attendees participated in three breakout workgroups on EHR adoption, healthcare (hospitals and providers), and HIE & population care. The meeting concluded with remarks by Harry Reynolds, Vice President of HIPAA at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC. He told the Task Force that the time to remind each other of our past accomplishments is behind us, and now is the time to plan for innovative, bold efforts in North Carolina.
  • May 4: This session will feature presentations from smaller, independent community practicioners about their experience with EHRs. The Task Force will again break into smaller workgroups at the direction of Chair Steve Cline.

NC HIE Council Meeting April 27
Following the Governor's HIT Strategic Planning Task Force meeting, the NC HIE Council met at the NCHICA office. There were over 55 participants, including Governor Perdue's Senior Advisor on Policy, Dan Gitterman. The committees of the Council provided updates on their activities. The Technical & Operations Committee is working on a white paper entitled, A Proposed Architecture for Statewide HIE Capability for the State of NC, which will be posted on the NCHICA website at: http://www.nchica.org/NCHIE/meetings.htm on Friday, May 1. The NC HIT Strategic Planning Task Force has requested this white paper be submitted and reviewed as part of the public comment process.

National ARRA Activities

  • http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/
  • http://www.himss.org/EconomicStimulus/
  • HHS has issued a request for information (RFI) soliciting public comment on the breach notification provisions of the HITECH Act to inform future rulemaking and updates to the guidance. More details are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy.
  • The state of New York has issued a draft HIT Strategic Plan in preparation for the ARRA requirements. This has been coordinated by the Office of Health Information Technology Transformation within the New York State Department of Health and is posted here.

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NCHICA ARRA UPDATE is produced by the North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance, Inc. (NCHICA), 3200 Chapel Hill/Nelson Blvd., Cape Fear Building, Suite 200, P.O. Box 13048, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3048, 919-558-9258, http://www.nchica.org.

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