News From Around the Web
> The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a non-profit standards development organization, and the Texas Health Services Authority (THSA) announced this week the posting of TX-HIE accreditation program criteria for public review. The accreditation program is being designed to "improve health information exchange (HIE) privacy, security, and interoperability and to provide a mechanism to establish trust in HIE for all Texans." Announcement
> Keith Fraidenburg has accepted the position of executive vice president/chief strategy officer at the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, effective April 1, 2014, CHIME announced last week. "Keith has been an instrumental part of CHIME for the past 16 years through our outside management company, AMG," the announcement stated. "Keith will lead our education services, public policy programs, business development, strategic planning and performance management." Announcement
Health Insurance News
> Test care models that coordinate benefits for dual-eligibles are lacking in quality-of-life measures, which are essential to identifying effective innovations, concludes a new policy brief from The Commonwealth Fund. States have been designing and implementing demonstration projects to improve quality and contain costs for the roughly 9 million dual-eligibles. Article
> The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments beginning this week on whether employers can legally object to covering contraception as required under the Affordable Care Act. It's decision could affect other health coverage choices as well. Article
And Finally... Emoticon lobbying is hard to express with words. Article