Health - US

gsnmagazine.com - November 1st, 2012 - Deborah Kobza

In response to Hurricane Sandy, the National Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NH-ISAC) has activated the National Healthcare and Public Health Cyber Response System, a 24/7 emergency response protocol supporting all-hazards (physical and cyber) healthcare critical infrastructure protection, mitigation, response and recovery.

Response resources are addressing situational awareness, information sharing and incident response support, working in coordination with federal, state and private sector organizations. NH-ISAC response protocols support and complement national, state and private sector-established emergency operations, business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

healio.com - October 19, 2012

"SAN DIEGO — Data presented today at the ID Week 2012 meeting indicate that most cholera cases reported in the United States are associated with the consumption of Gulf Coast seafood and travel to cholera-endemic countries between 2001 and 2010."

“Domestically acquired cholera from other sources is rare, but still occurs,” Loharikar said. “Our report demonstrates that after the outbreak of cholera in Haiti, which spread to the Dominican Republic, we saw a dramatic increase in US cases, all associated with travel to or from Hispaniola. Until access to an improved health infrastructure is seen in Haiti, we expect to see more cases from Hispaniola and other areas of the Caribbean and Latin America as cholera spreads to neighboring areas.”

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Report - Abstract - 653. Cholera in the United States, 2001 – 2011:  Role of Travel-Associated Illness in the Early 21^st Century
https://idsa.confex.com/idsa/2012/webprogram/Paper37464.html

healthdatamanagement.com - by Joseph Goedert - October 5, 2012

Four powerful members of the U.S. House and Representatives have sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius calling for an immediate halt to the electronic health records meaningful use incentive program, which they consider to be weak.

. . . The House members contend the meaningful use program is not meeting its goals, has wasted $10 billion and may do more harm than good. What follows is text of their Oct. 4 letter to Sebelius:

“We are writing to express serious concerns about the final Electronic Health Record Stage 2 Meaningful Use Program rules recently issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. We believe that the Stage 2 rules are, in some respects, weaker than the proposed Stage 1 regulations released in 2009. The result will be a less efficient system that squanders taxpayer dollars and does little, if anything, to improve outcomes for Medicare.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)