HHS reorganizing ONC, ASTP in tech funding, talent bid; FDA’s Digital Health Advisory Committee named; GAO scores progress on VA Telehealth Access Program

Time to make lemonade? The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in the midst of technical challenges such as AI and cybersecurity, has turned its weary eyes to a reorganization of a function that goes back two decades to the GW Bush administration. Technology has been under the purview of the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology (HIT), currently Micky Tripathi, within HHS–but not entirely. The HHS solution is to rename ONC-HIT as the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, or ASTP, and to add in IT functions distributed to other offices within HHS. 

• Not unexpectedly, HHS will hire three new technical experts: a chief technology officer (vacant for several years), a chief AI officer (currently held by Tripathi). and a chief data officer.
• The new ASTP will also absorb the IT functions within HHS’ Assistant Secretary for Administration (ASA).
• Another shift is being made to the HHS 405(d) Program, a partnership between the health sector and the federal government to align healthcare  cybersecurity practices. That moves from ASA to the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).

With this, ASTP hopes for more funding. Since the early 2000s, their budget has remained stagnant at $50-65 million, not including ‘paste ons’ for initiatives such as HITECH and 21st Century Cures. Healthcare Dive, Fierce Healthcare

Another alphabet committee formed to advise the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Digital Health Advisory Committee (DHAC) has been named to advise FDA on topics such as AI/ML, virtual reality, wearables, digital therapeutics, and remote patient monitoring (RPM). The chair will be Ami Bhatt, MD, chief innovation officer of the American College of Cardiology. A full list of the committee is in FierceHealthcare and the DHAC industry representative pool is here.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has more than a few reservations about the Veterans Health Administration’s Telehealth Access Program. The VA has had in place since 2019 a distributed telehealth program to enable veterans without internet access at home to obtain clinical telehealth services at outside locations. The Accessing Telehealth at Local Area Stations (ATLAS) pilot program works with private organizations, such as veterans service organizations, to provide locations where veterans can connect with VA clinicians for video consults. The problem is that 14 of 24 ATLAS sites active at the time had no veteran visits in Federal FY 2022 and 2023. Of the active 10, reports were favorable but not measurable. Where GAO scores VA is that the program lacked performance goals and related measures. VA going forward will implement goals and measures based on leading good practices and assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the ATLAS program on an ongoing basis. GAO report.