#HIMSS14 Day Four

Farzad's successor as ONC National Coordinator is the right person at the right place at the right time for Health IT, in my view. I wish her every success. The challenges are myriad and complex. She seems to have a good fix on them.

Maybe I should add this pic to my Facebook album "My Women." :)

I'm sure my largely rhetorical question is a non-starter, but I had to air it anyway, like I did repeatedly (exasperatingly) to Farzad. Were Congress to newly appropriate half of the initial REC grant expenditure to fund the 62 RECs through Stage 2, it would work out to about $65 per month per EP, based on the latest MU enrollment numbers. Commercial HIT consultants are will cost you $100 per hour at best (which is why the Privateers hated the REC initiative right out of the chute, particularly the vendor-neutral RECs like mine). It irks the crap out of me that HHS will let this hard-won new resource just fade away -- all the Happy Face talk about "no-cost extensions" and "sustainability" notwithstanding.

Federal Ag Extension Centers are now 100 years old since they were legislated into being. Given that the HIT effort will likely be 10 years in bearing visible Triple Aim outcomes and financial fruit, you would think that the feds would take a longer view. Maybe not a century, but, jeez, how about six years?

But, No.o.o.oo.OOOOh...

Having retired from the REC, I have no dawg in this fight, but, still, when I see ONC trying to spin how effective they've been for MU, it just begs a compelling question.

I'm in your corners, RECs. I lament that the REC "trade association" never got the first bit of traction.

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FINAL DAY PHOTO RAMBLE

Above, the tear-down continues apace.

Above and below, 7:20 a.m.; the final day early morning is always so ghostly quiet.

Above and below, 15 minutes out from closing Keyotes. Nothing like Hillary Day.

Above: these computer-controlled stage lights always remind me of the
egg pods in "Alien," lol.

CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner

Above and below, the HIMSS14 Press Availability. Dr. DeSalvo was gracious with her time.
I really appreciate her taking my question, my not being a "real" reporter.
I had to muscle my way in to get to ask it. The press would have kept at her for another hour,
her people had to finally insistently extract her from the room.

Below, final session, on the RECs. There were maybe three dozen people attending,
including my former HealthInsight colleague Wyatt Packer.

Another fine conference.

CODA

Brian Ahier's interview with Dr. DeSalvo.

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More to come...