Administration Updates
- The Department of Defense (DoD) released an announcement committing $500 Million for Women’s Health Research. This is in response to the Executive Order on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation that was released in March, and the DoD’s larger goal to promote health equity. This new announcement will direct the $500 million to women’s health research through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) and will help establish a new research policy that considers women’s health at every stage of the research process. This announcement also includes the DoD standardizing CDMRP and Military Health System Research funding opportunities to promote applicants to focus on women’s health research, and increasing the DoD’s investment in supporting early-stage small businesses that are specialized in research and development of women’s health.
- The CDC announced a funding award of $176 million to strengthen US public health infrastructure and workforce. This funding will be used to support 48 different public health partners at state, local, territorial, tribal, academic, and private sector levels intended to reach a wide range of people. The CDC works with the National Partners Cooperative Agreement to fund organizations with various public health focuses such as rural health, drug overdoses, and adolescent mental health. The CDC has found much success in advancing the public health infrastructure when they partner with more local organizations which drives the allocation of this funding.
- On September 24, HHS hosted its Inaugural Sickle Cell Disease Summit. This summit comes at the end of National Sickle Cell Awareness Month and highlights the work that HHS has been doing to improve the access to care and quality of life for people who have Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Some key moments from the summit were a fireside chat with actor Wunmi Mosaku who discussed the connection between reproductive health and SCD, and the need for more advocacy and education. Additionally, this summit awarded Dr. Clarice Reid the Assistant Secretary for Health’s Exceptional Service Medallion for her work in public health and SCD advocacy.
Health Policy Updates
- CMS agreed (subscription required) to increase oversight of remote patient monitoring (RPM) services following a report (subscription required) released by the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) that investigated potential fraud related to RPM. The OIG recommends that CMS provide more oversight and billing education to RPM companies. Their goal is to prevent misuse, fraud, and increase the amount of information CMS has on the RPM program including the types of health data RPM devices collect, what diseases or conditions are being monitored, what providers ordered the services, and which types of devices patients are using. The OIG deems oversight necessary after their findings that 43% of RPM enrollees did not have all three components of RPM, and 28% of enrollees in RPM programs do not have a record of education or device set up. In response to this report by the OIG, the Alliance for Connected Care (ACC) has called for the OIG to revisit (subscription required) the report. The ACC claims there are inaccuracies and bias language. This comes as the ACC is attempting to push for an extension of pandemic telehealth flexibilities before they expire at the end of the year.
Yvette M. Salas MSN, CRRN