CMS pushes PDMPs, EHRs for opioid response

With help from Arthur Allen (@arthurallen202) and Darius Tahir (@dariustahir)

CMS PUSHES PDMPS, EHRS FOR OPIOID RESPONSE: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is emphasizing the role of health IT in addressing the opioid crisis with new guidance pointing states toward funding sources for EHRs and prescription drug monitoring programs.

The guidance, distributed Monday, directs states to consider applying for federal funding to update their health IT, including through grants under the HITECH Act. It also suggests that states integrate information from PDMPs with EHRs, as well as with other data sources from pharmacies, Emergency Medical Services, and drug utilization review programs, among others.

“State-level innovation, including in the use of prescription drug monitoring programs and electronic health records, has been and will be a key piece of ending this crisis,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a CMS release.

States should also consider supporting telemedicine-based treatment for substance abuse to alleviate provider shortages especially in rural areas, the letter says. Pros can read the rest of the story here.

NET NEUTRALITY TAKES EFFECT, FCC’S PAI DEFENDS STANCE: The repeal of Obama-era net neutrality rules went into effect Monday, and FCC chairman Ajit Pai has defended his belief that the decision will protect consumers, POLITICO’s John Hendel reports.

The repeal preserves “the incentive for companies to build out better, faster, cheaper internet access for consumers across the country,” Pai told “CBS This Morning.” He dismissed concerns that broadband providers might drive up prices for online services, noting that before the 2015 rules, “we did not see targeted actions like that against internet traffic,” Pai said.

“At the FCC, we have a transparency rule, where every company in the United States has to disclose their business practices, and the Federal Trade Commission is empowered to take action against any company that engages in any anti-competitive conduct,” he said. Pros can read the rest of John’s story here.

Critics have argued that repealing the rules lets telecom companies decide which types of traffic go fastest. During an April House Energy and Commerce committee hearing, for instance, telemedicine advocates said the repeal could result in downstream charges for patients.

...In other FCC news, broadband providers eschew the agency’s disclosure site: The FCC requires providers such as Comcast and AT&T to disclose information about their internet service for consumers online, but so far there’s little information on the FCC’s site, POLITICO’s Margaret Harding McGill reports.

Companies are supposed to note whether they prioritize affiliated traffic or accept money for so-called fast lanes. They can choose whether to make the disclosures on an FCC page or their own websites. So far only one -- a small Mississippi provider, Noxapater Telephone Co. — seemingly opted to use the FCC’s website.

Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr told POLITICO the disclosures form a basis for enforcement if a provider violates its commitments. “Those disclosures are legally binding; they can’t engage in conduct that violates it,” Carr said. The disclosures simply must be “publicly accessible for consumers to know,” he said. Pai has said the agency will investigate any consumer complaints of inadequate provider disclosures and monitor disclosures for compliance with agency rules. Pros can read the rest of Margaret’s story here.

REPORT: THERANOS’ ELIZABETH HOLMES FUNDRAISING FOR A NEW COMPANY: John Carreyrou, author of Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, says the CEO of Theranos is fundraising for a new company despite defrauding Theranos investors and lying about its contracts. Carreyrou told Vanity Fair this week that Elizabeth Holmes is meeting with investors for a new startup, raising questions about her blood-testing company’s SEC settlement and a 10-year ban on leading a public company are enough to dissuade investors from funding her ideas.

eHealth Tweet of the day: Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein You mean Watson can’t fix the health care system singlehandedly? [Replying to Matthew Herper @matthewharper] IBM’s problems with Watson Health run deeper than recent layoffs, former employees say, via@statnews https://www.statnews.com/2018/06/11/ibm-watson-health-problems-layoffs/

Welcome to TUESDAY at Morning eHealth. Your author caved and bought a Movie Pass, and now her biggest challenge is prioritizing what to watch. She just saw First Reformed. What’s next? Ideas and news tips to [email protected]. Reach the rest of the team at @arthurallen202, @dariustahir,@ravindranize, @POLITICOPro, @Morning_eHealth.

MEDICAL RESEARCHERS COULD SOON USE APPLE WATCH TO TRACK PARKINSON’S SYMPTOMS: Apple Watch plans to release a software update this year that would help medical researchers understand movement disorders, CNBC reports. The “movement disorder API” could be used to track tremors associated with Parkinson’s, giving researchers better insight into its progression. Researcher Peter Schmidt, vice dean of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, has been advising Apple on the feature, and tells CNBC that such data could also help patients understand when their medications wear off.

PATRICK SOON-SHIONG PREPS FOR NANT IPO: Patrick Soon-Shiong, the biotechnology entrepreneur and billionaire in the process of buying the Los Angeles Times, is preparing to take a cancer treatment company public, Reuters reports. The new company will be called Nant and would focus on developing cancer drugs; Soon-Shiong has reportedly already hired bankers for the deal.

MITA CHEERS LAWMAKERS ON ATTENTION TO DEVICE CYBERSECURITY: The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance says health device companies should work closely with manufacturers, government agencies and other industry groups to better assess the security of their devices, according to comments submitted in response to a House Energy & Commerce Committee request for information on health device security. Medical device security is uniquely complicated because the lifetime for devices such as MRI machines can last decades, but manufacturers are realistically only able to provide security updates for a few years before updates are incompatible, the letter notes.

ICYMI: UBER APPLIED FOR PATENT TO IDENTIFY DRUNK PASSENGERS FROM PHONE USAGE: CNN reportedlast week on a patent application from Uber for a system that can identify intoxicated passengers based on signals such as typos, walking speed, and the amount of time it takes to request a ride. The system can establish a baseline for a customer’s usage patterns, and identify any deviations reflecting intoxication. The applications says that information could be used to warn drivers about an incoming passenger’s state, though critics point out that such data might also place those passengers at higher risk of assault.

If validated, such technology could help doctors monitor patients in real time, Pew Charitable Trust’s Ben Moscovitch tells Morning eHealth. That real-time data would need to be structured so that EHRs could accept it, but could be helpful in informing diagnoses, he said.

WHAT WE’RE CLICKING ON:

—STAT reports on the possibility that CRISPR edited cells could cause cancer

—Bloomberg’s analysis of the economics of air ambulances

—NBC’s Maggie Fox gives a first-person account of DNA tests

—CDC director Robert Redfield’s opinion piece on the opioid crisis and lessons from AIDS.

—K5 News reports on two women who discover they were switched at birth