December 2010

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology released a highly anticipated report providing detailed recommendations to the President and Federal agencies about how to take better advantage of information technology to increase healthcare quality while reducing costs.

"Realizing the Full Potential of Health Information Technology to Improve Healthcare for Americans: The Path Forward" notes that healthcare could benefit enormously from greater use of information technology (IT). Yet it is one of the few economic sectors in the Nation that has largely failed to tap into the power of IT. Reflecting input from industry and IT experts, privacy groups, healthcare professionals, and others, the report calls upon the Federal government to facilitate the widespread adoption of a “universal exchange language” that would allow the transfer of pieces of health data while maximizing privacy. Such a system would allow people’s health data to follow them wherever they go, and help physicians provide the highest possible level of care, while giving patients unprecedented control over who has access to their information. At the same time, it can save the Nation money by increasing efficiency and reducing redundancy. Importantly, implementation of PCAST’s recommendations would not require physicians to replace their existing electronic health records systems, virtually all of which could be made compatible through “apps” and other “middleware.” And they do not call for creation of a centralized Federal database of people’s health information or the assigning of Federal healthcare identifier numbers to individuals. To help implement its recommendations, the report calls upon ONC and CMS to create appropriate definitions of “meaningful use” as they craft standards for health information technology, which under law must be achieved in stages by 2013 and 2015. It also calls upon CMS to accelerate the modernization and restructuring of its IT platforms and staff expertise.

Verizon Communications Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said its next-generation wireless network could become a "modest substitute" for other home-entertainment services such as traditional cable or Internet access.

Seidenberg previously said he expects the trend of "cord cutting," where consumers cut their cable access and rely solely on their Internet connection for entertainment, to take hold. It was a position the cable companies strongly disputed. "They don't see cord cutting? Fair enough," he told analysts during an investor conference. He warned that while relatively newer technology such as wireless access is initially additive, it eventually starts to cut into discretionary spending for other services, particularly premium ones. His comments come a few days after Verizon Wireless launched its fourth-generation service, which touts speeds that are comparable to landline access. While Mr. Seidenberg doesn't see a wholesale jump from wired Internet service to his 4G network, he does expect some customers to make the switch. In response, he said his company's decision to invest in FiOS, which can deliver even higher fixed Internet speeds, gives him confidence in the business.

Former Radio and Television News Directors Association and Foundation President Barbara Cochran offers a set of steps that public broadcasting stations and networks need to take to become more relevant and improve service to their communities. The strategies include strengthening local news operations, sharing digital platforms among public entities, recruiting more diverse workforces, and reforming public media structures. Cochran is a journalist and former news executive who led both public and commercial newsrooms.

Cochran calls on Congress, public media entities, philanthropic organizations and others to:

• Restructure the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as the Corporation for Public Media. Break down barriers between television and radio and consider a new structure based on strengths in types of content;
• Allow public media entities to operate with greater efficiencies by making it easier for stations to consolidate and merge;
• Improve community governance structures and increase digital experience among board members;
• Increase congressional support through a special appropriation to enable public media to offer content more broadly on digital platforms as key community anchor institutions under the national broadband plan, and restore reauthorization;
• Encourage investment from government, foundations and corporations;
• Seek foundation partners to jump-start the process and engage community foundations to support fulfillment of community information needs; and
• Keep digital content free.

California Assemblyman Jared Huffman thinks electric and gas customers shouldn't have to accept smart meters if they don't want them and has introduced a bill that would require the California Public Utilities Commission to give them an opt-out option.

That option would give customers the right to ask for a wired meter. California is one of the hot spots of resistance to smart meter implementation, primarily because of consumer concerns about health effects of the meters. According to the Marin Independent Journal, Huffman's bill also would require utilities to give customers information about the meters that includes timing, magnitude, frequency and duration of radio frequency emissions. It also would require the PUC to temporarily stop smart meter deployments until the opt-out option is available. "This bill is about giving consumers reasonable choices," Huffman was quoted as saying. "Whether or not you believe RF exposures from smart meters are harmful, it's only fair that consumers who are concerned about health effects be given complete technical information and the choice of another technology for devices that are installed at their homes."