The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has confirmed it will investigate the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) Orphan Drug program following a letter from senators citing possible exploitation.

Included in President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 is a big increase in what the medical device and pharmaceutical industries would pay the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to cover the costs of reviewing their products.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has released a brief of guidelines for health information management professionals and clinicians on improving inclusion for patients in the LGBTQ community, covering multiple sexual orientations and gender identities.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has released its External HIPAA Audit Readiness Toolkit to assist organizations in preparing for the upcoming Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Phase 2 audits. The toolkit includes Phase 2 aspects for covered entities, business associates and includes tips in meeting responsibilities.

In healthcare, social media is a much more serious affair than a few tweets and Instagram posts. The governance of such activity in healthcare is crucial in the protection of patient data and compliance with HIPAA. Nelly Jacobo, director of digital strategy at Cedars-Sinai, and Melody Smith Jones, manager of Connected Health at Perficient, discussed the four pillars of social media governance at HIMSS 2017.

Technology is prone to breaking from time to time but when the technology within a medical device fails, lives are at risk. Parker Waichman LLP, a law firm protecting patients injured by medical devices, have commented on the safety concerns involving morcellators and duodenoscopes. These comments ask regulators to enforce reporting of medical devices injuries.

SpectraMedix, a company specializing in transitioning hospitals to to value-based payment models, has developed a national advisory council dealing with the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). This council, made up of healthcare policy and IT experts, will assist the industry implement Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Model (APM) tracks.

HHS has appointed Christopher Wlaschin, a retired Navy commander, as its new chief information security officer.