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GAO Appoints 7 to ONC’s Health IT Advisory Committee

GAO Appoints 7 to ONC’s Health IT Advisory Committee

The U.S. Authorities Accountability Office environment (GAO) has appointed seven new members to the Health and fitness Facts Know-how Advisory Committee (HITAC), such as wellness details exchange executives, a individual advocate, and two main healthcare details officers.

The 21st Century Cures Act, enacted in December 2016, set up HITAC and gave the Comptroller Normal obligation for appointing at least 14 of the associates. In addition, 11 customers are appointed by the Secretary of Wellbeing and Human Products and services, the The vast majority and Minority leaders of the Senate, and the Speaker and Minority Chief of the Residence of Representatives. The committee delivers recommendations to the Nationwide Coordinator for Health and fitness Information and facts Technological innovation on policies, expectations, implementation requirements, and certification standards relating to the implementation of a wellbeing data technological know-how infrastructure that advances the electronic access, trade, and use of wellness data.

“HITAC is composed of persons committed to increasing the digital entry, trade, and use of wellness facts. Each individual 12 months, several fantastic candidates specific an curiosity in serving on the committee,” claimed Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller Standard of the United States and head of the GAO, in a statement.

The new appointees are:

• Kikelomo Belizaire, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., is the Chief Medical Officer at Pegasystems, exactly where she supports the company’s industry alternatives for wellbeing methods, health designs, and lifestyle sciences companies. Dr. Belizaire is also a working towards hospitalist in the Charlotte, North Carolina spot. She formerly served as the health-related director of Anthem’s professional device, as a medical doctor dealing with high-acuity clients in a number of different clinic devices in North and South Carolina, and as a healthcare guide.

• Shila Blend, Ph.D., M.S., is the Health and fitness Details Engineering Director of the North Dakota Well being Information Community, North Dakota’s statewide wellbeing details trade. She also serves as a issue make a difference skilled with the Rural Emergency Health care Solutions Counts challenge, which is working to develop high quality actions for emergency health-related solutions in rural regions. Previously, she served in a amount of positions with the condition of North Dakota, which include as the Deputy Main of Staff for COVID-19 reaction, as the Director of the Medical center Preparedness System, and as Coordinator for the state’s stroke and cardiac systems of care.

• Hannah Galvin, M.D., is the Chief Health-related Info Officer of Cambridge Wellness Alliance, an educational general public safety web wellbeing technique, wherever she qualified prospects the Division of Scientific Informatics and practices as a pediatrician. She also retains an assistant professorship as a result of Tufts College Faculty of Medication. Dr. Galvin is the co-chair of the board of directors of Change, an independent process power targeted on enabling clients to handle how their very own sensitive well being info are shared to promote equitable interoperability. Beforehand, Dr. Galvin was the Clinical Director of Informatics at Lahey Health, Senior Manager of Scientific Efficiency at athenahealth, Inc., and practiced at various hospitals in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, the place her medical concentration was on caring for underserved and vulnerable populations.

• Bryant Thomas Karras, M.D., is the Main Medical Informatics Officer and Senior Epidemiologist with the Washington State Office of Wellness, in which he guides informatics and overall health information and facts interoperability attempts. He has led numerous state endeavours, like those relevant to advertising and marketing widespread adoption of wellbeing info know-how, early detection of condition outbreaks, patient immunization histories, prescription drug checking, and COVID-19 exposure notification. Beforehand, Dr. Karras was a study scientist and assistant professor with the University of Washington, and an inner medication health practitioner at a variety of hospitals in Connecticut, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.

• Anna McCollister is a individual advocate, entrepreneur, and advisor on a variety of wellbeing know-how, data use, and well being care excellent initiatives. She delivers her practical experience as a affected person with form 1 diabetes to each individual of these routines. Ms. McCollister has served on a quantity of nationwide committees, including on a Foodstuff and Drug Administration advisory committee concentrated on endocrinologic and metabolic medication, and on a Nationwide High-quality Discussion board committee on high-quality steps for principal care and serious illness. She was also the Chief Advocate for Participatory Study at the Scripps Translational Science Institute and served as a marketing consultant to lifestyle sciences, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology consumers.

• Deven McGraw, J.D., M.P.H., is Direct for Info Stewardship and Knowledge Sharing at Invitae Corporation, a health care genetics organization. She co-launched and was the Main Regulatory Officer of Ciitizen, a overall health technological know-how business obtained by Invitae that will work to enable people to acquire, manage, and share their healthcare information. Her previous encounter includes serving as the Deputy Director of Health Facts Privateness in just the Department of Wellbeing and Human Companies Business office of Civil Rights, as the Performing Chief Privacy Officer for the Office of the Countrywide Coordinator for Health and fitness IT, and as a partner with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.

• Naresh Sundar Rajan, Ph.D., M.S., is a Chief Info Officer at CyncHealth (previously identified as the Nebraska Health Details Initiative), wherever he leads health and fitness data trade knowledge and modernization initiatives. He also serves to aid the specialized architecture for the exchange of prescription drug checking info by means of the Prescription Checking Info Exchange Standards Group, and on a neighborhood advisory board to aid foster health-associated research in Terrific Plains states with significant rural and underserved communities. Before becoming a member of his latest organization, he worked for the condition of Utah on analytics to share details on treatment prescriber methods, and for the state’s Violence and Damage Prevention Application

 

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GAO Makes Appointments to the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee

GAO Makes Appointments to the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee

WASHINGTON, DC (December 19, 2022) – Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller Basic of the United States and head of the U.S. Governing administration Accountability Workplace (GAO), now introduced the appointment of 7 associates to the Health Information Know-how Advisory Committee (HITAC).

“HITAC is composed of individuals committed to bettering the electronic entry, trade, and use of wellness data. Each calendar year, many remarkable candidates specific an curiosity in serving on the committee. Right now, I’m pleased to announce this latest spherical of appointments, who I am self-assured will make exceptional contributions.”

The recently appointed members are Kikelomo Belizaire, Shila Blend, Hannah Galvin, Bryant Karras, Anna McCollister, Deven McGraw, and Naresh Sundar Rajan. Each individual is appointed for a three-12 months phrase and may perhaps be reappointed for a subsequent three-yr expression. Temporary biographies are down below.

The 21st Century Cures Act, enacted in December 2016, established HITAC and gave the Comptroller Basic accountability for appointing at least 14 of the members. In addition, 11 customers are appointed by the Secretary of Wellness and Human Expert services, the Greater part and Minority leaders of the Senate, and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Reps. The committee presents suggestions to the Nationwide Coordinator for Wellbeing Information and facts Technological innovation on procedures, criteria, implementation specifications, and certification conditions relating to the implementation of a wellbeing information technology infrastructure that advancements the electronic access, trade, and use of health and fitness information.

For more details, you should pay a visit to the HITAC website. Other calls ought to be directed to Chuck Youthful in GAO’s Office environment of Community Affairs at (202) 512-4800.

The new appointees are:

Kikelomo Belizaire, MD, MPH, MBA, is the Main Medical Officer at Pegasystems, where by she supports the company’s sector answers for health and fitness techniques, wellness ideas, and lifetime sciences businesses. Dr. Belizaire is also a training hospitalist in the Charlotte, North Carolina spot. She earlier served as the professional medical director of Anthem’s commercial device, as a doctor managing significant-acuity individuals in numerous various medical center programs in North and South Carolina, and as a health care consultant. Dr. Belizaire gained her Health practitioner of Medication and Learn of General public Overall health from Saint George’s University and her Master of Small business Administration from Wake Forest College.

Shila Mix, PhD, MS, is the Well being Information and facts Know-how Director of the North Dakota Well being Details Network, North Dakota’s statewide well being details trade. She also serves as a subject matter matter pro with the Rural Crisis Medical Providers Counts job, which is functioning to acquire good quality steps for emergency health care solutions in rural spots. Earlier, she served in a amount of positions with the condition of North Dakota, which includes as the Deputy Chief of Team for COVID-19 response, as the Director of the Healthcare facility Preparedness Application, and as Coordinator for the state’s stroke and cardiac units of care. She is a board-certified registered nurse and gained her Medical doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the College of Colorado Anschutz Health-related Campus and her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Mary.

Hannah Galvin, MD, FAAP, FAMIA, is the Main Health care Facts Officer of Cambridge Overall health Alliance, an educational general public protection internet overall health process, wherever she leads the Division of Scientific Informatics and practices as a pediatrician. She also retains an assistant professorship by way of Tufts College College of Drugs. Dr. Galvin is the co-chair of the board of directors of Change, an unbiased process force focused on enabling individuals to control how their own sensitive health facts are shared to market equitable interoperability. Previously, Dr. Galvin was the Professional medical Director of Informatics at Lahey Overall health, Senior Manager of Medical Efficiency at athenahealth, Inc., and practiced at quite a few hospitals in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, where her clinical aim was on caring for underserved and susceptible populations. Dr. Galvin gained her Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Healthcare Faculty.

Bryant Thomas Karras, MD, is the Main Clinical Informatics Officer and Senior Epidemiologist with the Washington State Section of Health, in which he guides informatics and overall health data interoperability efforts. He has led different condition attempts, like those people associated to advertising popular adoption of overall health details technology, early detection of disease outbreaks, patient immunization histories, prescription drug monitoring, and COVID-19 publicity notification. Beforehand, Dr. Karras was a investigation scientist and assistant professor with the University of Washington, and an internal medication medical professional at a quantity of hospitals in Connecticut, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. Dr. Karras been given his Health care provider of Medicine from the University of Wisconsin Faculty of Medication and Public Health and completed a fellowship in health-related informatics at Yale College.

Anna McCollister is a affected individual advocate, entrepreneur, and advisor on different wellbeing technological innovation, knowledge use, and well being care top quality initiatives. She brings her expertise as a individual with type 1 diabetes to each individual of these things to do. Ms. McCollister has served on a quantity of national committees, together with on a Foodstuff and Drug Administration advisory committee concentrated on endocrinologic and metabolic medication, and on a National High quality Discussion board committee on high-quality actions for primary care and persistent health issues. She was also the Main Advocate for Participatory Study at the Scripps Translational Science Institute and served as a expert to everyday living sciences, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology purchasers. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ohio Point out College.

Deven McGraw, JD, MPH, is Lead for Info Stewardship and Data Sharing at Invitae Corporation, a health-related genetics firm. She co-started and was the Main Regulatory Officer of Ciitizen, a health and fitness technology corporation acquired by Invitae that functions to help clients to accumulate, control, and share their healthcare info. Her past knowledge includes serving as the Deputy Director of Overall health Details Privateness within the Division of Well being and Human Companies Business office of Civil Legal rights, as the Performing Chief Privateness Officer for the Business of the National Coordinator for Well being IT, and as a husband or wife with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. Ms. McGraw gained her Juris Health practitioner from Georgetown University Legislation Heart and her Learn of General public Wellness from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg College of Public Overall health.

Naresh Sundar Rajan, PhD, MS, is a Chief Data Officer at CyncHealth (formerly recognised as the Nebraska Health and fitness Facts Initiative), where he leads wellbeing info trade facts and modernization initiatives. He also serves to support the specialized architecture for the exchange of prescription drug checking information as a result of the Prescription Monitoring Information and facts Exchange Standards Organization, and on a group advisory board to aid foster health and fitness-relevant research in Great Plains states with huge rural and underserved communities. Just before becoming a member of his existing organization, he worked for the condition of Utah on analytics to share info on medicine prescriber practices, and for the state’s Violence and Personal injury Avoidance Program. He gained his Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Informatics from the College of Utah, and his Learn of Science in Personal computer Science from Fairleigh Dickinson College.

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The Government Accountability Workplace, recognized as the investigative arm of Congress, is an impartial, nonpartisan agency that exists to assistance Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities. GAO also performs to increase the performance of the federal government and guarantee its accountability to the American individuals. The company examines the use of community money evaluates federal applications and policies and gives analyses, suggestions, and other aid to help Congress make informed oversight, coverage, and funding conclusions. GAO offers Congress with well timed facts that is aim, reality-dependent, nonideological, fair, and well balanced. GAO’s commitment to great authorities is mirrored in its main values of accountability, integrity, and trustworthiness.

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National Women’s Health Advisory Council to tackle medical misogyny in medicine and health care

National Women’s Health Advisory Council to tackle medical misogyny in medicine and health care

“Women are in pain,” writes Gabrielle Jackson in Pain and Prejudice.

“They’re in pain with their periods, and while having sex; they have pelvic pain, migraines, headaches, joint aches, painful bladders, irritable bowels, sore lower backs… But women’s pain is all too often dismissed, their illnesses misdiagnosed or ignored.”

First published in 2019, Jackson’s book — subtitled a “call to arms for women and their bodies” — captured her frustration at how little progress had been made on the treatment of endometriosis after her own diagnosis 14 years earlier.

“I was so angry when I wrote the book,” Jackson says.

A headshot of Gabrielle Jackson, wearing an orange jacket and creme top. She is smiling
Gabrielle Jackson’s book drew attention to how little progress has been made on the treatment of diseases which overwhelmingly affect women. (Supplied)

“And it was so exhausting. When you’ve got a chronic illness, sometimes full-time work is all you can do, and I was writing the book on top of my full-time job. And there were times when I really thought it wasn’t worth it.”

In the years since, Jackson has stepped back her advocacy, focusing on her “day job” as Guardian Australia’s head of multimedia while she recovers some energy.

An announcement made in the last week, however, has her feeling reinvigorated.

On Thursday, Ged Kearney, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, announced that the federal government would be establishing a Women’s Health Advisory Council to tackle “medical misogyny” within healthcare systems.

The council, which Kearney will chair, brings together experts — and those with lived experience — to provide advice and recommendations to the government on all matters women’s health.

In her speech, Kearney thanked Jackson and others who have advocated for action, acknowledging that the “system is stacked against them”.

Ged Kearney gives a press conference in front of a range of female senators at Parliament House
Assistant Minister for Health Ged Kearney will chair the new advisory council. (Mick Tsikas: AAP)

“It’s not about doctors hating women,” Kearney says.

“There’s no conspiracy in a basement somewhere. It’s just that society, the world, simply everything is built around men. And the good thing that’s happening is that we’re starting to get a small body of evidence to show what women have known for centuries.”

Stats show women at increased risk of dying

That small body of evidence is increasingly more alarming — and the discrepancies aren’t just relevant to gynaecological issues.

A recent study looking at Australian and New Zealand data showed that women are approximately 1.5 times more likely to die in ICU after heart surgery than men.

Yet studies also show that women complaining of symptoms consistent with heart disease are twice as likely to be diagnosed with mental illness compared to men with identical symptoms.

Emergency nurse and woman patient COVID 19
Australian and New Zealand women are 1.5 times more likely to die in ICU following heart surgery. (Getty Images)

We now know that women present with different symptoms of heart-attack than men (for example being less likely to complain of chest pain), but doctors routinely recognise only those symptoms that men most commonly experience.

A 2021 study from the U.S., meanwhile, found that diseases which primarily affect women are vastly underfunded relative to disease burden, while those primarily affecting men are over funded by a ratio of 2:1.

And trans women face a raft of unique barriers to accessing appropriate health care, including inadequate training and stigma on the part of doctors and specialists. 

The stats are proof of what women have been saying all along: that they face a range of “poorer health outcomes” comparative to men.

“It feels like I’ve put my shoulder up against a massive juggernaut and I’m trying to steer it in another direction,” Kearney says.

“I’m not going to pretend that life is going to be different tomorrow, but I hope this can be the start of systematic change at the policy level.”

More research, gendered guidelines needed

Dr Sarah White, CEO of Jean Hailes for Women’s Health, is one of the experts who has been invited onto the national advisory council.

Dr Sarah White smiles for the camera. She is wearing a pink suit.
Dr Sarah White, CEO of Jean Hailes for Women’s Health, wants the council to address gendered gaps in research. (Supplied)

She has a number of suggestions for where the council can start getting to work.

“So much medical research has studied males and then generalised those findings to females,” she says.

“As a society, none of us seems to have a problem understanding that we need paediatric research and children’s hospitals.

“We intuitively understand that small boys are not the same as men, but for some reason, we treat women as if they’re small men.”

This is an issue raised by Jackson in Pain and Prejudice. She points out that while 70 per cent of those who live with chronic pain are women, 80 per cent of pain studies are conducted on men or male mice.

This means that women are often prescribed drugs (and at dosages) that may not be appropriate for them.

“The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) should not approve medicines unless there is sufficient data around quality, safety and efficacy for males and females separately,” Dr White says.

“We also need different treatment guidelines and public awareness campaigns. If you look at something like menopause, it affects 50 per cent of the population, and of those, 10 per cent will have symptoms that really impact their ability to work, live, study and play. But we still don’t have anywhere near enough research on it.”

The Labor government has undertaken some preliminary, related measures to address some of the issues raised by Dr White.

This includes the announcement that it will fund 16 dedicated Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinics across the country, while in October Health Minister Mark Butler announced that the NHMRC would set targets to award equal numbers of Investigator Grants to women and men to address gendered inequities in research funding.

Minister for Health Mark Butler gives a press conference in front of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags
Minister for Health Mark Butler announced in October that the government would set targets to ensure women received an equal number of NHRMC Investigator Grants.(Mick Tsikas: AAP)

Kearney says this measure is one step towards addressing knowledge gaps, given women are more likely to study issues relevant to women’s health.

While White welcomes both initiatives, she says she would like to see the government go further by promising targeted funding for issues that overwhelmingly affect women and gender diverse people:

“We need to make sure there is equality of funding for conditions like endometriosis and menopause, and perhaps even more funding, to make up for injustices in the past.”

Women’s voices ‘haven’t been heard’

Tackling gender inequality in the healthcare system also requires addressing the underlying issue of how women are treated when they present to doctors.

“When we do our work as women’s health services and ask women what’s missing from medical care, time and again they say ‘we’re not being heard’,” Tricia Currie, head of the Victorian Women’s Health Council and CEO of Women’s Health Loddon Mallee, says.

A lady in a red jumper with blonde hair smiles at the camera
CEO of Women’s Health Loddon Mallee Tricia Currie says women frequently say that their voices aren’t being heard. (Supplied)

“They might be speaking, they might be telling their story, but they’re not actually being heard.

“There’s unconscious bias within the health care system which is why it is important that we have structures around decision-makers that ensure governments are hearing from women, and diverse women, about not only what the issues are but what some of the potential solutions are.”

It’s an issue Dr Mariam Tokhi feels passionately about. She is a GP at Utopia, a refugee and asylum seeker health centre in Hoppers Crossing.

Tokhi has a diploma in obstetrics and gynaecology, and recently completed a qualification in narrative medicine.

“As doctors and health care workers, we get a lot of training in statistics and biosciences,” she says.

“But what I see is that when we meet people every day, we are hearing stories, and we really need to get some training and skills in how to listen, and how to show up for patients.” 

Medical model needs overhaul: GP

Tokhi argues that addressing the many issues with women’s health care requires a re-think of the medical model.

“The way Medicare is set up, the way our hospitals are designed, all of those things have been done with a particular lens, and it has mostly been set up by white, wealthy men,” Tokhi says.

Dr Mariam Tokhi smiles for the camera
Dr Mariam Tokhi says the existing Medicare model punishes doctors for spending quality time with patients. (Supplied)

“With general practice, the system is set up to incentivise fast care. So GPs, especially if you’re bulk billing, make the most money if you see someone every six minutes.

“There is a penalty for spending more time with patients. And we need to question that — why is fast seen as good? Fast favours a hyper-masculine, terse and laconic form of communication.

“People who have complicated and messy stories, who are carrying trauma and struggling with their mental health, need longer to express themselves, and someone to listen.”

These issues are only amplified, she says, when women face other forms of disadvantage, including those from diverse cultural and lower socio-economic backgrounds.