October 2009

ONC panel wrestles with meaningful use by specialists

On Tuesday, the Health IT Policy Committee confronted the problem of how to craft a manageable set of requirements for the "meaningful use" of health information technology across an industry where specialties and new practice variations are common - and where one policy may not fit all. The advisory panel for the Office of the National Coordinator has recommended to the Health and Human Services Department 25 clinical and quality measures that physicians and hospitals must meet in 2011 to be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments under the stimulus law. Those measures were geared for what is normally a patient's first encounter with the health system: the primary care physician. But many specialists - who do not treat a wide range of diseases and conditions - may not be able to comply with all the current 2011 requirements. "Not all objectives and measures are appropriate for all eligible professionals," said Paul Tang, vice chairman of the Committee and chief medical information officer at Palo Alto Foundation. As a result, the committee must decide which of the 25 meaningful use measures should apply to specialists so they still can qualify for 2011 incentive payments - and which requirements to delay introducing til 2013 and 2015.

Debate heats up over cybersecurity regulations for electric utilities

Representatives from the electrical industry sharply criticized on Tuesday a proposal in the House to extend federal regulation to include local power plants in major cities to protect them and the national power grid from cyberattacks. Under the 1935 Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission enforces security standards for most of the nation's power plants, including facilities and control networks -- known as bulk power systems -- that connect power systems. But the commission does not have regulatory jurisdiction over electrical systems outside the continental United States and to local distribution facilities, which include some in large cities such as New York and Washington. These systems are connected to the bulk power system through computer networks. "How can we possibly limit the authority to the bulk power system only when [computer networks] are all interconnected?" asked House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment Chairman Ed markey (D-MA). Lack of federal authority to enforce standards industrywide opens the system to cyberattacks, Chairman Markey argues, because an attacker could target an individual power plant, which could cause outages across broader regions of the electric grid. "We have to close that regulatory black hole" between the federal authority and [North American Electric Reliability Corp.'s] jurisdiction, Rep Markey said.

Recap of FCC Broadband Accessibility Workshop II

On October 20, the Federal Communications Commission held a National Broadband Plan workshop focused accessibility issues for people with disabilities.

In the first panel, Leveraging Federal and State Resources to make Broadband Accessible and Affordable, we heard about the efforts of Department of Commerce/NTIA, Department of Agriculture/RUS, the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, the Government Services Administration, and the State of Missouri (from Danny Weitzner, Gary Boles, Jennifer Sheehy, Richard Horne, Terry Weaver, and Marty Exline, respectively) to support broadband access for people with disabilities. While each agency is clearly making an important contribution, the daunting task before us is to figure out how we can better coordinate our efforts at the tribal, local, state, federal, and international levels.

In the second panel, we heard consumers discuss very movingly the specific barriers and opportunities that broadband presents to those who have speech, hearing, vision, hearing and vision, mobility, and intellectual disabilities. A consultant gave a "big picture" analysis of these barriers and opportunities. The panel did a superb job of clearly articulating the problems that we have to solve.

"Advancing National Purposes for People with Disabilities" was the theme of the third panel. Jim Fruchterman of Benetech discussed how Bookshare allows people with vision, learning, and mobility disabilities to have online access to over 50,000 books and periodicals. Peggy Hathaway of Spinal Cord Advocates discussed how broadband provides new job and civic participation opportunities for people with mobility disabilities, and Claude Stout of Telecommunications for the Deaf discussed the urgent need for people in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community to be able to contact E-911 services directly using pagers, e-mail, and real-time text and video. Kate Seelman of the University of Pittsburgh discussed how broadband-enabled telerehabilitation can help people with disabilities better manage their health and employment, and Ishak Kang of DOT UI discussed how the Smart Grid could benefit people with disabilities.

The fourth panel was a fascinating exploration of the technological barriers and opportunities relating to broadband accessibility. Among other things, the panelists addressed E-911 issues; the importance of interoperability and open architecture; the potential to address accessibility challenges through cloud computing; and the challenges related to captioning on the Internet.

Real-time video surpasses P2P, creating new broadband 'prime-time'

A new report from deep packet inspection vendor Sandvine finds that the heaviest use of broadband networks has shifted to viewing streaming video - and primarily between the traditional prime-time hours of 7-10 pm. That finding, along with a concurrent shift away from heavy peer-to-peer (P2P) users being the biggest consumers of broadband bandwidth, represents a major shift in bandwidth consumption. It also has major implications for network service providers and how they manage their traffic, made even more complex thanks to the heavy interest in net neutrality these days in Washington (DC). It also comes as similar surveys from Cisco and Arbor Networks in recent days have been released with similar conclusions: overall bandwidth consumption is increasing, with streaming slowly overtaking P2P.

Netherlands, France, Singapore cheapest for mobile broadband

ABI Research finds that the Netherlands, France and Singapore have among the lowest prices for mobile broadband plans. In France, an unlimited download plan costs just over $15 per month. Some countries have already seen the introduction of innovative pricing plans, including pricing by time rather than data downloaded. Vendors must also ensure that their price plans remain transparent and fair. Consumers and watchdogs have complained about excessive and uncapped data costs for users who unknowingly exceed their allotted maximum download limit. This can be mitigated by the use of data caps above which users cannot continue downloading, or through informative advertising detailing the number of web pages or online videos represented by a given data package.

Liberty Media gets IRS approval for split-off

John Malone's Liberty Media Corp said on Tuesday it has received approval from the Internal Revenue Service for a tax-free split-off of its Liberty Entertainment unit ahead of a merger with DirecTV. Malone is the controlling shareholder of DirecTV, the largest U.S. satellite TV operator, and is seeking approval from shareholders on November 19 to combine it with Liberty Entertainment assets, such as regional sports networks and gaming company FUN Technologies. Liberty said it received a private letter ruling from the IRS which approves the split-off as a tax-free transaction. No gain or loss would be recognized by Liberty Media on distribution or exchange of the Liberty Entertainment shares. The IRS approval was a key condition for the split-off process. Liberty has been eager to reduce the gap between the value of Liberty Entertainment's assets and its market value.

Telstra: will oppose reforms if assets undervalued

Telstra, Australia's dominant phone provider, threatened on Wednesday to oppose government reforms to the telecoms sector if these plans ended up undervaluing the company's huge asset base. Telstra is in talks with the government over the reforms, which would involve hiving off the company's fixed-line phone assets from the rest of the business and injecting them into a A$43 billion ($39.45 billion) national broadband network.

Cisco to buy ScanSafe for $183 million

Cisco Systems is buying privately held Web security company ScanSafe for about $183 million, a move that will intensify its battle with security giants Symantec and McAfee. ScanSafe sells Web-based services that protect business computer networks and PCs from hackers, saving companies the cost of buying and installing software on their own equipment. The top two security software companies, Symantec and McAfee, already sell such products, which are known as "cloud" services and whose sales are growing at a far faster clip than traditional software. Cisco announced the deal on Tuesday, saying it expects the transaction to close in its fiscal second quarter that ends in January 2010.

Price promises of backers of Wisconsin cable bill fall flat

[Commentary] When interests such as AT&T pushed for a bill in 2007 to open up more competition in the cable television market, the proposal's supporters promised consumers would "see cost savings almost immediately." Nearly two years after an intense lobbying effort helped push the controversial video competition bill through the Legislature, those lower cable prices haven't materialized. A recent study found prices for expanded basic cable increased nearly 28 percent from late 2006 to early 2009. Madison-area provider Charter Communications has said it will raise rates on its lower-tier cable-only customers by $3 in December. "It was a form of puffery and everyone knows it," Barry Orton, a UW-Madison telecommunications professor who formerly did consulting work for cities opposed to the law, said of the predictions of lower prices. "And those rates prove it."

GAO's Preliminary Observations on the Implementation of Broadband Stimulus Programs

In testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee, the Government Accountability Office's Mark Goldstein provided preliminary information on the challenges Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) face in distributing broadband stimulus grants and loans; the steps taken to address challenges; and the remaining risks in 1) evaluating applications and awarding funds and 2) overseeing funded projects. The testimony is based on related ongoing work that GAO expects to complete in November. To conduct this work, GAO is reviewing relevant laws and program documents and interviewing agency officials and industry stakeholders. While this testimony does not include recommendations, GAO expects to make recommendations in its November report.

NTIA and RUS face scheduling, staffing, and data challenges in evaluating applications and awarding funds. The agencies have taken steps to meet these challenges, such as adopting a two-step evaluation process, utilizing nongovernmental personnel, and publishing information on the applicant's proposed service area. While these steps address some challenges, the agencies lack the needed time to apply lessons learned from the first funding round and face a compressed schedule to review new applications. As a result, the agencies may risk awarding funds to projects that are not sustainable or do not meet the priorities of the Recovery Act.

Benton

Search