May 2009

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, which represents 350 technology vendors and 20,000 members, has asked the Obama administration to require that any electronic health-record equipment receiving stimulus funding be certified by a group the association helped to start and run. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, which represents 350 technology vendors and 20,000 members, was a key force behind the decision to include $36.5 billion in the stimulus package to create a nationwide network for medical records. A Washington Post review last week showed that the group, known as HIMSS, worked closely with vendors, health-care researchers and others to create nonprofit advocacy groups and generate research data to convince policymakers that such a system could save tens of billions of dollars, and that the government needed to subsidize Medicare and Medicaid providers to buy the equipment. The government estimates that adoption of electronic health records will yield perhaps $17 billion in savings over the next decade. Now the health information group is urging officials at the Department of Health and Human Services to give an organization called the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, or CCHIT, responsibility for deciding what health records systems are eligible to receive stimulus spending.

Google is on a charm offensive to convince governments and the general public that the Internet advertising company should not be subjected to new privacy or antitrust regulation. "When markets get regulated, creative innovation is slowed. We don't think that is a good outcome," said Eric Schmidt, chief executive. "A much better outcome is for us to use good judgement. We take what we see as the consumer interest as our guiding principle," he said. Schmidt argued that, far from abusing its huge market power, Google has benefited consumers by challenging incumbents in various markets. Google's digital copying of books, for example, came from this desire to put consumer interests first, he said. The comments appeared an oblique reference to recent news that US anti-trust authorities are making informal inquiries into some aspects of Google's settlement with publishers of the lawsuits over its BookSearch service, which makes digital copies of titles and serves selected excerpts to users in response to search queries.

The United States Postal Service is like a once-proud thoroughbred now crippled with a broken leg -- or two. It remains a venerable institution, but it has been so severely handicapped by the recession that lawmakers are beginning to seriously consider cutting a day of delivery. That gradual -- and reluctant -- shift in attitudes was evident at a congressional hearing yesterday at which the Postal Service again made a plea for legislation that would allow it to cut mail delivery from six days a week to five.

On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved the nominations of Larry Strickling to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Aneesh Chopra to be the government's first chief technology officer. Their nominations move to the full Senate now. In a written response to questions raised by Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Strickling said the NTIA should develop metrics "to accurately and demonstrably" show whether the $7.2 billion in broadband funds contained in the economic stimulus package are being used appropriately and whether the program is achieving the goals established under the statute. "There are a number of outcomes that could be used to show that unserved communities benefit from this program, including households passed with broadband service, speed of Internet service, jobs created, affordability of broadband offerings, and adoption of broadband service," Strickling wrote, noting NTIA will require grant recipients to regularly report their progress. In addition to transferring $10 million to the inspector general for oversight, NTIA has pursued transparency through public meetings and by soliciting public comment, he said. If confirmed, Strickling said he would ensure a "robust program of inspection and audits" is implemented and as the program expands, will provide information about applicants and recipients as well as quarterly reports.