By Mario Hyland

Senior Vice President,

AEGIS

Date/Time: Thursday, November 8, 2012 7:10 pm Location: ITE 459, UMBC

AEGIS.Net Inc. is a CMMI and ISO rated consulting firm with a focus on Healthcare IT and interoperability, defining interoperability standards, procedures, and helping to ensure quality of care given to patients. Their clients include the VA with the VLER initiative, Office of the National Coordinator, the Healtheway eHealth exchange and the Interoperability Work Group (IWG), and Meaningful Use Standard testing through NIST. Mario has led the efforts at these initiatives to ensure interoperability and organizations adhere to the standards and specifications as produced by the governing bodies.

Aegis recently was selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish a health IT test infrastructure that verifies conformance and interoperability with industry standards as part of meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). The NIST $6.25 million contract award is one example of the recognition and rising importance of testing for interoperability to make sure that health IT systems have standards in place according to specifications and can effectively exchange information.

The initial emphasis of the NIST contract will be on testing the standards for meaningful use, but it will also provide test tools to support electronic health record communication and electronic clinical document exchanges, such as for e-prescribing, lab results, immunization and patient administration, as health care moves in that direction, according to a recent NIST announcement in Federal Business Opportunities.

In another testing effort, Aegis.net is partnering with the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) to use its testing software, the Aegis Developers Integration Lab, to test interoperability for the EHR/HIE Interoperability Workgroup, an effort led by the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) that includes 15 states and 34 health information exchanges (HIEs). Aegis will work with CCHIT to make sure that the interfaces are consistent between the health IT and HIEs across multiple states and systems.

The open source Developers Integration Lab (DIL) is the heart of Aegis' testing, according to Mario Hyland, senior vice president and founder of Rockville, Md.-based Aegis.Net Inc. Hyland spoke with Government Health IT while at the Oct. 17 conference of the Open Source Electronic Health Record Agent (OSEHRA), a non-profit organization formed to modernize VistA for open source and to contribute to the VA-Defense Department's integrated electronic health record (iEHR). Aegis.net is a participant.

By: Pamela Andrade

Hurricane Sandy has passed, but new information about the storm is still rolling in. Here are some of the most shocking numbers you should know.

The New York City Marathon was projected to generate $340 million before Mayor Michael R Bloomberg canceled the historic event on Friday. The race has taken place every year since 1970, and was even held in 2001 after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

$30 million in federal funds have been allocated for storm cleanup alone, with an additional $29 million going towards highway reconstruction. Lawmakers estimate that a full recovery from the storm will be a multibillion-dollar effort.

According to Twitter, people sent over 20 million tweets about the storm during the past week. Tweets mentioning the Red Cross increased by 30%.

As many as 20,000 flights were canceled due to the storm, leaving many tourists stranded at airports. Airlines have lost an estimated $200 million.

Eatons Neck, N.Y. reported wind gusts of 96 mph during the peak of the storm. Other areas in Long Island also experienced gusts over 90 mph.

The death toll in New York City reached 41 on Friday. The United States and Canada combined have seen almost 100 lives taken by the storm.

Richwood, W.V. experienced 36 inches of snow. At least three individuals died in weather-related accidents or during cleanup after the storm passed.

Staff members from NYU Langone Medical Center carried 20 babies down nine flights of stairs during an evacuation after the power went out. Nurses manually squeezed bags full of air into the mouths of four newborns who had been on respirators.

Storm surges reached as high as 14.38 feet at Kings Point, N.Y. Heights of 13.88 feet were reported from The Battery, Lower Manhattan.

At one point, 10 pictures per second with the hashtag #sandy were being uploaded to Instagram. 

U.S. voters frustrated by competing claims of who will win the upcoming presidential election and why can turn to political science professor Thomas F. Schaller’s latest Salon column—“Why Obama/Romney will win/lose”—for insight on election theories.

Schaller’s top theories for why Obama will win include: (1) He’s got a huge field advantage in the swing states. (2) No matter what Romney does, it all comes down to one state, Ohio—and Obama has it locked. (3) The Latino vote is being undercounted. (4) Cell phone users are being undercounted. (5) The 2012 electorate will look similar to 2008. (6) Nate Silver is a genius, and he pegs Obama as a 3-to-1 favorite.

Major theories for why Romney will win include: (1) He’s locked down the independents. (2) Actually he, not Obama, has the turnout advantage. (3) And that’s because Obama’s ground game “edge” is mythical—and besides, a secret Mormon army is quietly mobilizing out West. (4) The youth vote won’t be there for Obama this time. (5) The liberally-biased polls are skewed. (6) Nate Silver’s all wrong.

See also Schaller’s latest Baltimore Sun column, “The virtues of a president with humble origins,” which argues, “The president’s humble beginnings will allow him to continue working on behalf of working-class Americans.”

According to the Daily Record, the Maryland Democratic Party is accusing MDPetitions.com (used to help petition three state laws to referendum over the last year) of violating campaign finance laws. Website founder Del. Neil C. Parrott has responded by saying, “Here we have the Maryland Democrat party trying to use scare tactics” to prevent voters from striking down the referenda.

Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, comments that with so many hotly debated issues on the ballot this year, Maryland is getting a taste of types of accusations that more politically-diverse states experience regularly during the election season. Norris notes that using online tools such as MDPetitions.com to put issues on the ballot is a major way that Maryland conservatives are trying to increase their reach; he predicts that in the next General Assembly session laws will likely be adopted to “restrict the ability to petition legislation to the ballot.”

Norris also discussed early voting and the same-sex marriage referendum in the Gazette.

If after witnessing two years of relentless campaigning you want to run for President… you must see this fun, and informative video. Even if you aren’t interested in running in 2016 have a look any way. It will bring some clarity and a smile to the madness of the Presidential election season.

Courtesy of polticalcartoons.com 

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie,  a popular Republican politician who has been sharply critical of President Obama, very recently developed a more positive view on the President’s leadership in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

Christie praised Obama profusely for his swift initial and follow-up response to the storm, stating that: 

“The president has been all over this and deserves great credit…he gave me his number at the White House and told me to call him if I needed anything.” 

However, the generous praise he has bestowed upon the President is generating uncertainty about his loyalty to the Republican Party. Some, like Rush Limbaugh, are outraged that the governor is doing his job (you know, as governor) and brushing aside partisan politics to do things like survey the damage from the storm alongside Obama.

Others speculate that Christie might have ulterior motives, or that something must have gone awry between him and former Governor Mitt Romney.  

Yet another theory is simply that on Christie’s list of priorities, playing partisan political games is at the very bottom. His state did just incur extensive damage from a massive superstorm, after all. 

In fact, in an interview with Fox News, Christie had this to say when asked if Romney would also be invited to come view the damage:

“I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested. I have a job to do in New Jersey that is much bigger than presidential politics. I could care less about any of that stuff… If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me.” 

What do you think about the matter? Should Christie exercise greater restraint with regard to his laudatory comments in order to display solidarity among the Republican party?

Or is this simply a matter of putting politics aside and offering praise when it is due, no matter what side you’re on?

Now that the STARS 2.0 Public Comment Period is open and many have had a chance to look at the review documents, it seems like a good opportunity to provide some guidance for those of you that would like to participate but are not sure where to begin.

The STARS Technical Manual is a large document and reviewing it as a whole can be somewhat daunting. A couple of resources have been created to help break down and explain the proposed changes. An overview of major changes being proposed is available on the STARS website and specific changes are outlined more fully in the Summary of Proposed Changes document. In addition, staff have posted a webinar covering the process of submitting feedback, as well as explanations of the major changes being proposed.

After reviewing the supporting materials, there are two ways to participate (both are encouraged):

1. Submit one or more comments using the online form. You can submit a comment on a single credit or on an entire STARS subcategory and you may return to the form as many times as you wish. If your time is limited, one approach would be to pick an area of particular interest and focus your review and feedback there. For example, some of the more substantial changes being proposed are in the Curriculum, Climate, Grounds, Water, Planning & Coordination, Diversity & Affordability, Investment, and Public Engagement subcategories.

2. Complete the System-Wide Issues Survey. This is a brief, six-item survey covering high-level changes being considered as part of the technical development process. It represents an opportunity to weigh in on the overall structure of STARS moving forward.

By way of reminder, the public comment period will close November 30, so comment early and often!

The draft of STARS 2.0 includes some exciting new ideas and credits and reflects a lot of thoughtful discussion and feedback on the part of STARS Participants, Technical Advisors, Steering Committee members, and others. Your participation in the Public Comment Period will help make the final version of STARS 2.0 that much stronger.

The following part-time positions have been posted within the past week to UMBCworks. Login to your account (via the link in the Jobs & Internships topic in myUMBC) and find details and application instructions as well as hundreds of other job postings!

9254730 - Government Relations - World Wildlife Fund
9254674 - Seasonal Sales and Stock Associates - EXPRESS (Columbia Mall)
9254560 - Shift Manager - Jump!Zone
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