The HHS issues a call for creative talent

The Department of Health and Human Services is looking for five to 10 "Dream Fellows" - namely, innovators or entrepreneurs - to help with four newly announced Host Innovation Fellow projects.

The projects are being announced through HHS' Innovation Fellows Program, which, according to a June 21 posting on HHS.gov, "aims to bring external ideas and expertise to HHS’ own innovation process and rapidly create, develop, engage and accelerate innovation."

HHS is accepting applications for Dream Fellows – more formally known as External Fellows – through July 20. The application is available at

http://www.hhs.gov/open/initiatives/innovationfellows

The four projects will team External Fellows with federal officials – called Host Fellows – for mentoring and roundtable discussions. In addition, they would have access to a team of entrepreneurs, innovation experts, industry professionals and venture capitalists supporting the project.

The four projects are:

Accelerating clinical quality measures for the Affordable Care Act. The project aims to develop new clinical quality measures that incorporate information available in electronic health records to monitor the impact of the implementation of the HITECH Act (ARRA) and the ACA.

The HHS' Host Innovation Fellows for this project are Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; Jacob Reider, MD, acting chief medical officer for the ONC; and Kevin Larsen, MD, the ONC's medical director of meaningful use.

"Work at warp speed to help accelerate the development and adoption of new clinical quality measures that will incorporate information available in electronic health records to help HHS monitor the impact of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act," the release states. "Clinical quality measures typically take 3-5 years to develop, but with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services transitioning to a value-based reimbursement effort and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s investment in electronic health records, the time for new clinical quality measures is now. Help HHS with the use of the Lean System. Lean is a way of analyzing and organizing complex processes with many steps and people involved in a process – especially a production process. HHS is looking for a Lean expert to lead a 'value stream' analysis of the clinical quality e-measure production."

Designing the infrastructure for Medicaid and CHIP eligibility. The project aims to develop an electronic infrastructure that states can integrate to implement the Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) method for determining eligibility for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility that is required under the ACA.

The HHS' Host Innovation Fellows for this project are Julie Boughn, MS, MBA, deputy director of CMS' Center for Medicaid and CHIP; Jessica Kahn, MPH, CMS' senior technical advisor in the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services; Henry Chao, CMS' deputy chief information officer; and Elaine Olin, CMS' director of the data and systems group in the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services.

"The clock is ticking, with 30 million additional Americans gaining access to affordable insurance coverage by 2014 and the simplification of the eligibility requirements across the nation through the adoption of the Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) requirements, states need a new eligibility system to determine income, household composition and family size," the release states. "Given the short timeframe for development and implementation, 'MAGI in a box,' an electronic eligibility determination system, is a solution that could be developed and shared with states to help reduce the risk of states missing the January 2014 deadline. This project will help millions of Americans and shape how people gain access to health insurance coverage."

Building 'health resilience technology' to withstand natural disasters. This project aims to develop innovative solutions that will allow individuals with access and functional needs to continue to use their durable medical equipment (DME – includes medical devices powered by electricity, such as oxygen concentrators, ventilators, and intravenous infusion pumps) during prolonged power outages.

The HHS' Host Innovation Fellows for this project are Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Phil Ferro, PhD, the ASPR's director of special projects; Patrick Hart, MPA, FEMA's senior advisor to the deputy administrator; and Ted Okada, FEMA's senior advisor to the deputy administrator for disaster technology.

"Save lives now before potential disaster situations by assisting the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) find a solution that will allow individuals with access and functional needs continue to use their durable medical equipment … at home during prolonged power outages, thereby decompressing the burden on the healthcare system," the release reads. "The external fellow will likely use both technology and business approaches to tackle this complex problem."

Devising electronic tracking and transport of the nation’s organ transplant system. This project aims to revise the existing organ system to improve identification, labeling, packaging and transport of the nation’s organs and include electronic components for identifying organs and tracking their movement to minimize the potential for misdirection or other delays in organ transportation and reduce the chance of incorrect transplantation.

The HHS' Host Innovation Fellows for this project are Joyce Somsak, MA, associate administrator for healthcare systems for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and Richard Durbin, director of the HRSA's transportation division.

"The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) collects more than 8,000 organs from deceased donors and more than 22,000 organ transplants are completed annually through the OPTN each year," the release states. "Currently, organs are collected and tracked via paper and pencil methods with an estimated 10 percent of organs ending up in the wrong place. In an effort to improve safety by eliminating the risk of manual transcription error, HHS believes that the revision of the OPTN organ identification, labeling, packaging and transport system to include electronic components will result in fewer lost organs and reduced chance of incorrect transplantation. In addition to development, the external fellow will work with government officials on the adoption of the new system by the OPTN board."
 

Eric Wicklund

Editor of mHIMSS.org

Follow Eric on Twitter @eriwick