Sebelius Sworn into Dept. of HHS

Kathleen Sebelius was sworn in as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, April 28, 2009.

To read her biography, click here.

Information and Resources for Swine Flu

As leaders of the country's medical societies, you play a critical role in helping to maintain the public health. To this end, AAMSE is pleased to provide you with comprehensive resources to help you prepare your members and community for the emerging Swine Flu pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a dedicated webpage with the most up-to-date news and information related to Swine Flu. We encourage you share this information with your members and also sign up for the CDC's RSS feed dedicated to the Swine Flu.

Additionally, AAMSE is gathering information resources from medical societies from across the country. To view these resources visit the AAMSE Resource Center and search for "Swine Flu" or click here for a full listing.

If you have resources you would like to share or for general discussion of Swine Flu, please visit the AAMSE Forums discussion thread "Swine Flu Resources and Discussion"

Swine Flu Resources

CDC's Swine Flu Resource Page

CDC's Swine Flu RSS Feed

AAMSE Discussion Forum on Swine Flu*

AAMSE Resource Center Documents on Swine Flu*

*Please note, you must be logged in to the AAMSE website to view these pages

AMA Announces Web Portal for Physicians

The AMA announced today that it is partnering with two technology companies, Covisint (a subsidiary of the Compuware Corporation) and DrFirst, to offer physicians web-based products and services in the hopes of facilitating a transition to electronic health records.

To read more, click here.

Social Networking Helps Reverse FDA Call

Story submitted by Steve Smith, CAE, executive director / CEO of the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine.

On March 31, the FDA announced that manufacturers of 14 unapproved pain medications commonly used by palliative care physicians must cease production of said medications within 60 days. On April 9, the FDA reversed this decision due to an outpouring of complaints from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and other groups. The swiftness of this decision reversal has been attributed to interested parties using social networks such as Twitter, Facebook - as well as conventional routes such as phone, face-to-face, email, and fax - to discuss and inform others about this and encourage them to voice their complaints.

To read more about this story click here, and to read how social networking was used, click here.

Amicus Filed in Vaccine Ruling

Eight medical associations, including the AMA and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), filed an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court in response to the Georgia Supreme Court ruling that state courts could hear cases involving alleged vaccine defects, despite the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1986 establishing a "national vaccine" court to oversee such lawsuits.

To read more, click here.

AMA Reduces Staff Positions

The AMA announced last week that they would be reducing open and filled staff positions, affecting approximately 100 current AMA staff members.

To read more, click here.

Private Companies Attempt to Collect Overpayments

Some companies with self-funded insurance plans, working under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, are using private companies to recoup "overpayments" to physicians.

To read more, click here.

NQF Calls for Nominations to Panels

The National Quality Forum (NQF) is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on selection panels that will review proposals and select subcontractors to complete work under NQF's contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

BACKGROUND: On January 14, 2009, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded a contract to NQF to establish a portfolio of quality and efficiency measures that will allow the Federal Government to examine how and whether healthcare spending is achieving the best results for patients and taxpayers. This contract is part of a provision in the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 that directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services "to contract with a consensus–based entity, such as the National Quality Forum." The contract provides up to $10 million to NQF annually through 2012. NQF intends to subcontract some of this work to meet its contractual requirements to DHHS.

Potential subcontracting tasks may include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Evaluating the impact of NQF endorsed measures on the healthcare community;
• Performing a systematic review and synthesis of evidence relating to 20 high-priority conditions identified by CMS;
• Performing a full Environmental Scan of all available performance measures and measures in the development pipeline that relate to a set of 12 cross-cutting measure categories;
• Developing performance measures that fill critical measurement gaps in healthcare; and
• Developing an electronic quality measure format and instructions for technical implementers.

The DHHS Subcontract Selection Panels will be responsible for reviewing submitted proposals for the above NQF activities or others as needed. Individuals should identify the subcontracting task(s) for which they would like to be considered.

TIME COMMITMENT: For each subcontractor selection activity, the DHHS Subcontract Selection Panelists can anticipate approximately 8-10 hours of review time and one conference call to discuss the proposals and select a subcontractor.

CRITERIA FOR CONSIDERATION: In selecting panelists, it is vital to provide equal, unbiased consideration of each submitted proposal received by NQF, and therefore appointment of individuals to the panel will be based upon the following criteria:

• Familiarity with NQF, its status as a voluntary consensus development body and its projects;
• Familiarity with the national healthcare quality landscape;
• An understanding of current policy issues related to healthcare quality;
• Knowledge of measure development, endorsement, and implementation;
• Experience with government contracts/subcontracts;
• Experience with writing and reviewing proposals;
• Ability to discern "best value" for the government and for NQF;
• Ability to analyze and evaluate proposals based upon a standardized set of criteria that include technical merit and cost; and
• No conflict of interest and a willingness to disclose such conflict if it arises during the evaluation process.

NOTE: Individuals from organizations submitting proposals for an NQF subcontract may not serve on the review panel for that specific subcontract. They may, however, serve on a review panel for an unrelated subcontract provided there are no other conflicts of interest.

MATERIAL TO SUBMIT: Self-nominations are welcome. Third-party nominations must indicate that the individual has been contacted and is willing to serve. To be considered, please send the following information:

• Completed nomination form;
• Letter of interest (self-nominees) or letter of support, highlighting relevant expertise and experience, and identifying the subcontracting task(s) for which they would like to be considered;
• Curriculum vitae and/or list of relevant experience (e.g., publications) up to 20 pages; and
• Completed "Non-Disclosure and Procurement Agreement /Conflict of Interest Certification" form.

Materials should only be submitted via email to nqfrfp2009@qualityforum.org. Please include "Attn: "Nominations" in the subject line of the message

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: All nominations MUST be submitted by 6 pm ET on Monday, May 4, 2009.

QUESTIONS: If you have any questions, please contact Larry Gorban at 202-783-1300 or lgorban@qualityforum.org.

APA Ends Industry-Supported CME

In response to Congressional scrutiny of CME and the relationship between the medical community and industry, the American Psychiatric Association announced last week that they would be ending all industry-supported CME, including meals sponsored by industry.

To read more, click here.