Morning Headlines 1/30/14

CCHIT Announces New Strategic Direction With Global Focus

CCHIT announces that it will exit the EHR certification business. The company will pivot to a consulting model that will offer services to both hospitals and HIT vendors.

Former Allscripts CPA charged with insider trading

Steven Dombrowski, former Allscripts director of corporate audits, has been indicted on 16 insider trading charges. Federal prosecutors allege that in Q1 2012, Dombrowski opened a trading account in his wife’s name, and then made $286,000 short selling Allscript stock.

Proposed Law Would Give US Chief Technology Officer Oversight Of Major IT Projects

Representatives Anna Eshoo and Gerry Connolly introduce a bill that will require the federal CTO to review all major IT project undertaken by the federal government. The CTO’s office will have the authority to manage, or co-manage, the project on behalf of the initiating agency. The bill was drafted in response to charges that CMS lacked the technical expertise to properly manage the Healthcare.gov project itself.

U-M Kellogg Eye Center performs first two retinal prosthesis implants in U.S. since FDA approval

Surgeons at the University of Michigan implant the first FDA-approved prosthetic retina which is expected to restore enough vision for the otherwise blind recipients to be able to see objects, light, and people standing before them.