HealthCast

The National Cancer Institute is using Cancer Grand Challenges as a way to improve the lives of cancer patients through data science and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. According to Dr. Andrew Kurtz, program director in the Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives at NCI, AI is not only providing amazing benefits in image analysis when it comes to detecting cancer, it's also helping with gathering molecular data and other clinical information. Kurtz outlines how the global research community is proposing to address the nine new Cancer Grand Challenges and highlights a new three-dimensional tumor map that is transforming the way cancer is diagnosed and treated.

The Department of Veterans Affairs reset its electronic health record modernization program in April, halting all future rollouts of the system, with the exception of the James A Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, which will launch in concert with the FEHRM and DHA in March 2024. Since the reset, the agency has focused on improving the functionality and operations at five sites that currently use the new EHR. Its path forward includes a new Oracle-Cerner contract on May 16 to deliver the high-functioning, high-reliability, world-class electronic health record that veterans deserve. VA Deputy CIO of the Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office Laura Prietula discusses next steps following the reset and explains the importance of leadership throughout the large-scale implementation.

On May 16, 2023, VA announced it had reached an agreement on a modified contract with Oracle Cerner to deliver the high-functioning, high-reliability, world-class electronic health record that Veterans deserve.

The National Cancer Institute has established a third Cancer Screening Research Network that will leverage emerging technologies and develop clinical trials that could lead to earlier detection of different types of cancer. Multi-cancer detection tests are showing a great deal of promise when it comes to screening for certain cancers that could result in a more timely diagnosis and treatment which in turn reduces the number of cancer deaths.  Dr. Lori Minasian, deputy director for the Division of Cancer Prevention at NCI, discusses how these tests fit into President Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative, what the challenges around the tests are and more details about a new pilot study coming up in 2024.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” last year, which requires agencies to responsibly develop and implement automated systems, guided by five core protections. In this exclusive GovFocus preview, federal leaders discuss how they are tackling the challenges around AI to meet mission needs in health care.

To watch the GovFocus and explore our archives, visit govciomedia.com.

GovCIO Media & Research’s Health Tech Equity Working Group held their second meeting May 11 to tackle important issues across health care, including creating more robust data standards and mitigating technology bias across agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, NIH and more. Our hosts dive into the top takeaways from the meeting and explain how industry and government can work together to deliver more equitable health care and build trust with patients.

Since the beginning of the year, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has rolled out several new updates to existing interoperability frameworks, including the 21st Century Cures Act, Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) and U.S. Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) to improve standards that enable better health information exchange. National Coordinator for Health IT Micky Tripathi explains the latest with these frameworks and discusses the implications on areas like artificial intelligence, interoperability, health equity, data security and more.

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health has leveraged cloud to create the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) — the largest repository of COVID data in the U.S. Over 70 health organizations contribute to the N3C Data Enclave, which cleans, secures and computes that data all in one place in the cloud. N3C's cloud infrastructure has also been instrumental in not only gathering data from various places but also bringing in different types of data such as mortality and viral variant data.  Dr. Kenneth Gersing, director of informatics in the Division of Clinical Innovation at NCATS, talks about how emerging technologies are helping researchers define long COVID in a more standardized way and how N3C is being used in treating non-COVID related diseases as well as preparing agencies to better handle future health emergencies.

About 90% of nonmelanoma skin cancers are associated with ultraviolet radiation exposure. Sometimes prevention is straight forward: wear sunblock, stay shaded. But still, there are 1 million skin cancer diagnoses in the U.S. every year. Ultraviolet dosimeters are one of several technologies that are showing a lot of promise when it comes to preventing skin cancer. The tools collect personalized data about UV exposure and are linked to an app that allows people to enter information about their sun-protective behaviors like wearing sunscreen.  Psychologist Frank Perna, program director at the National Cancer Institute (NCI)’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Behavioral Research Program, and Health Behaviors Research Branch, discusses how programs like the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program and the Classification of Laws Associated with School Students (CLASS) are helpful in tracking melanoma as well as capturing data about state policies related to sun safety and sunscreen use in schools.

Data interoperability in health IT is a persistent challenge. Creating opportunities for better data sharing can bring necessary collaboration to health researchers. But security of the data remains an important requirement to protect patients and other sensitive information. Researchers at NIST Chris Compton, Joanna DeFranco, David Ferraiolo and Joshua Roberts during the HIMSS conference in Chicago highlight how the Secure Federated Data Sharing System is breaking down walls across institutions, clinics and other organizations to enable trusted access to the data powering tomorrow’s innovations. They discuss how the system can be applicable beyond the health ecosystem to other use cases such as law enforcement.

The “end of the beginning” is around the corner for MHS GENESIS. The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, along with the Coast Guard and now National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are working together to create a single, common federal electronic health record. Bill Tinston, director of the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) Office, joins Defense Healthcare Management Systems PEO Holly Joers at HIMSS in Chicago to explain the program’s latest progress, lessons learned and how they’re working together to implement best practices at future sites. Looking ahead, DOD is focusing on improving the patient experience.

Decision-making in a clinical setting needs comprehensive, accurate and real-time data. In order to better care for patients, researchers and data scientists are innovating around the technology enabling access to key data from electronic health records driving decision-making. NIH’s Sarah Warner, a data scientist in the Clinical Epidemiology Section of the Critical Care Medicine Department, discusses the strategies behind the big data efforts helping clinicians understand and improve treatment for critically ill patients, better define granular data elements that make up patient care, and inform public health policy more broadly.

The Veterans Experience Office is developing new strategies to leverage data and technology to be the leading customer experience organization in government. The office’s Executive Director of Multi-Channel Technology Nathan Sanfilippo joined us live from HIMSS 2023 in Chicago to explain the evolution of new tools and services like the VA: Health and Benefits mobile application and upcoming voicebot pilot, which incorporates human-centered design principles to meet the veteran where they are.

We’re back for HIMSS 2023! We unpack what you can expect at this year’s conference — featuring our special guest, Rubrik Public Sector CTO Travis Rosiek.

We’re anticipating new discussions around major developments like federal electronic health record modernization, data security amid growing cybersecurity threats, new interoperability policies impacting federal agencies, tools that are enabling better data sharing in the health research community and more.

Tune in to freshen up on the latest trends as you prepare to head to Chicago for next week’s conference, and follow along with our coverage throughout the week at govciomedia.com!

Data literacy is a critical component in the digital age for enabling the workforce to harness data’s power. The Department of Veterans Affairs is leveraging a new automated training platform called the All Services Personnel and Institutional Readiness Engine (ASPIRE) to improve competencies for emerging technologies, especially AI and cyber. This interagency effort ensures the overall federal workforce is qualified and capable of meeting their missions as emerging technologies continue to scale. Anthony Boese from VA’s National Artificial Intelligence Institute (NAII), whose educational roots are in philosophy, understands the power of AI and the urgent need to get a handle on data. He explains the program’s development, progress and next steps for the federal community.

2023 will be a big year for the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program as it celebrates 50 years of using data to monitor trends and support research on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer. The SEER Program, which is funded by the National Cancer Institute, is making significant strides to decrease the burden of cancer through a suite of analytical tools that better capture data and make it more accessible to the research community. Steve Friedman, senior advisor for operations with the Surveillance Research Program in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at NCI, unpacks two new data initiatives, the Virtual Bio-Repository and the Virtual Pool Registry, that will allow researchers to collect additional clinical data and remove barriers for conducting multi-site cancer studies.

Developing trustworthy artificial intelligence is paramount in today’s health care and tech landscape. The Department of Veterans Affairs is continuing its journey to ensure AI’s integration is ethical and sound for veterans health care. Building on the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and VA’s National AI Network, NAII Chief of Staff and Chief Innovation Officer of VA’s Long Beach Healthcare System Dr. Michael J. Kim from the agency’s AI unit explains new pilots, programs and use cases that are informing the agency’s next steps.

Join the AI@VA Community: Join Our AI Communities! (https://www.research.va.gov/naii/join.cfm )
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Before the onset of COVID-19, the Department of Veterans Affairs already had the biggest telehealth program in the nation, but the pandemic forced the agency to rapidly scale its existing capabilities to continue to deliver critical health care to veterans in a remote environment. Dr. Neil Evans joins us to discuss the progress VA has made with telehealth, how remote care offerings are closing the digital divide and the next steps in this journey.

At the end of 2022, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced more than 1 million downloads for its new “Health and Benefits” mobile app. The app provides a single platform for veterans to access health and benefits information, and VA plans to continue adding new features. VA Deputy CTO of Digital Experience Chris Johnston discusses the app development and the tools his agency used to increase access to critical services and improve customer experience.

Health equity and the Affordable Cancer Technologies Program are helping the National Cancer Institute achieve its mission of significantly lowering cancer rates around the world. NCI's Center for Global Health has adopted health equity as a core value to ensure that patients benefit from cancer research no matter their financial status as well as create opportunities for young people from low-income countries who want to pursue a career in cancer research. NCI also recently launched the second phase of the program to run until 2028. Center Director Dr. Satish Gopal said the program will commit up to $60 million to developing new tech and tools that will support global cancer control by improving cancer screenings and treatments.