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Morning Headlines 4/18/13
Mostashari defends vendor fee proposal
Farzad Mostashari, MD, defends ONC’s EHR vendor fee proposal by arguing that “having an assured funding base for the agency’s certification program would reduce uncertainty for the industry.”
Lawmakers push Hagel on DoD-VA interoperability
Chuck Hagel has cancelled DoD’s RFP searching for a system to replace its homegrown AHLTA system, saying that the agency would publish clarifying plans shortly.
HIT Q1 2013 Funding and M&A Report
Mercom Capital Group just published its quarterly review of health IT investments. There was $493 million venture capital funds invested this quarter, with Health Catalyst ($41M), xG Health Solutions ($40M), and NantHealth ($31M) inking the largest deals.
Use of Smartphones to Collect Information about Health Behaviors: Feasibility Study
The CDC is doing feasibility studies to investigate potential research bias in using smartphones to collect health information from participants. Specifically, they are looking to verify that selecting only participants that own smartphones for a study does not result in unintentional bias.
I don’t get the rationale for this vendor fee. Is there a precedent for another federal agency charging a similar fee? As a tax-paying company, it doesn’t seem like the government can ban a vendor from participation without paying the fee. Conversely, it is a tax on vendors, and only Congress can pass a tax. Mostashari’s comments in the link are even more perplexing. This fee leading to stability suggests vendors want and need the ONC. Vendors already pay for HIMSS to be the industry forum outside of government. If vendors have to pay ONC too, is HIMSS redundant? Does this fee represent a “pay-to-play” access fee that must be paid to participate in ONC programs? Aren’t they already supposed to be open to anyone and everyone for participation and comment, as a federally funded agency? Will a startup vendor be charged the same as a large established vendor in order to participate? Too many questions, too few answers here.