Innovation Winners Honored by Secretary Sebelius
March 31, 2011 01:30 PM US Eastern Timezone
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced six winners of round two of the HHSinnovates program, saying that innovation must become “our way of life at HHS.” The HHSinnovates program was launched last year to recognize exceptional innovation efforts throughout all the agencies of HHS.
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced six winners of round two
of the HHSinnovates program, saying that innovation must become
“our way of life at HHS.” The HHSinnovates program was launched
last year to recognize exceptional innovation efforts throughout all the
agencies of HHS.
“Only innovation and a welcoming attitude to new ideas will enable HHS
and its partners to succeed in today’s challenging environment”
“Only innovation and a welcoming attitude to new ideas will enable HHS
and its partners to succeed in today’s challenging environment,”
Secretary Sebelius said in announcing the awardees. “Our round two
winners show how innovation can support both our short-term and
long-term goals and these innovations also show how new approaches can
actually leverage one another to greater success.”
In the HHSinnovates program, innovation candidates are invited
from throughout the department in an open nomination process. In round
two, nearly 90 qualified candidates were submitted. After an initial
review process, the best candidates were put up for a vote by HHS
employees. During round two, over 10,000 votes were cast by HHS
employees. The final six awardees include three “Secretary’s Picks” and
three honorable mentions.
Candidates are judged on innovativeness and applicability for use by
other programs in HHS or throughout the federal government.
The “Secretary’s Picks” in round two are:
-
Using Electronic Health Records for Public Health Surveillance
– The Indian Health Service (IHS) in collaboration with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) created a new public health reporting tool, which
used de-identified information from electronic health records (EHRs)
to provide near real-time surveillance of the H1N1 flu in American
Indian/Alaska Native populations. The new system helped direct the
availability of limited supplies of H1N1 vaccine, and it provided an
early proof of the effectiveness of EHRs for public health
surveillance, which is an important long-term goal in the national
initiative for switching from paper medical records to electronic
records. Key Contributors: John Redd, IHS; Jim Cheek, IHS; Terry
Cullen, IHS; Larry Layne, IHS; Jim Hayslett, IHS; James Keck, CDC; Amy
Groom, CDC.
-
FDA-TRACK = Transparency, Results, Accountability, Credibility,
Knowledge-sharing – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
developed a web-based tool for tracking progress on key activities
throughout the agency and making the information available both
internally and to external stakeholders and the public. FDA-TRACK is
the first comprehensive performance-measuring tool applied across a
major federal agency and made available both internally and
externally, in response to the Administration’s “Open Government”
initiative. This exploratory management tool has been made public
while refinement of the product continues, so far monitoring progress
for over 600 performance measures in some 100 key projects, spanning
all 114 FDA program offices. Key Contributors: Timothy Kiang, FDA;
Kelly McReynolds, FDA; Giles Mills, FDA; Tiffany Yu, FDA; Tiffany
Clark, FDA; Ann Vale, FDA; Kari Schraf, FDA.
-
“MedLinePlus Connect” Service for Electronic Health Records –
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the NIH, has adapted
its widely-used MedLinePlus information service to make it directly
linkable to electronic health records (EHRs) and personal health
records (PHRs). In this way, consumers can instantly connect from
their EHR or PHR to the information at MedLinePlus. For example, a
consumer could link instantly from a particular diagnosis on his or
her electronic record to MedLinePlus information about that condition
and its treatment, including further links to pertinent drug
information. In providing this service for consumers, the new service
also provides an easy, cost-free tool that health care providers could
use to meet one of the optional Meaningful Use objectives for patient
education and help them qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive
payments for EHR adoption and use. Key Contributors: Joyce Backus,
NIH; Stephanie Dennis, NIH; Naomi Miller, NIH; Joseph Potvin, NIH;
Sarena Burgess, NIH; Maxine Rockoff, Columbia University.
The three honorable mention winners are:
-
From Outer Space to the Eye Clinic: NASA-NIH team develops a new
device to detect blinding cataracts early – A collaboration
between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and
the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), has led to development of a clinical device for much
earlier detection of cataracts. Two government scientists brought
about the collaboration and development of the device, which measures
changes in alpha crystalline proteins in the lens of the eye, and is
adapted from a device created for use in outer space. The device holds
promise for improved understanding and treatment of cataracts, the
leading cause of blindness in the world. This is a prime example of
two government agencies sharing information and resources in the
service of the American people. Key Contributors: Manuel Datiles,
NIH; Fredrick Ferris, NIH; Rafat Ansari, NASA; J. Samuel Zigler, Johns
Hopkins University Hospital.
-
“Ready, Cert, Go!” – The Office of Human Resources has created
a new process to streamline the hiring process for the most frequently
needed positions throughout HHS. The traditional hiring process
required each position to be advertised, and candidates certified,
independently. The goal of the “Ready, Cert, Go!” initiative is to
have a pool of certified candidates continuously available for the 12
most commonly advertised job series and grades, which will account for
4,000 positions or 67 percent of projected 2011 hiring needs. This
initiative will reduce the amount of time managers must spend on
hiring actions and expedite the process of filling needed positions
throughout the Department. Key Contributors: Denise Wells, OHR;
Antonia Harris, OHR; Kent Slakey, OHR; Linda Bishop-Milton, OHR; TJ
Powers, OHR; Donna Sanders, OHR; Marcia Gosha-Caldwell; OHR.
-
MONAHRQ – Input Your Data, Output Your Website – The Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed freely-available
software to enable organizations to create health care reporting web
sites. Such sites can be useful for communities in assessing health
care needs and for consumers as they seek out health care resources to
serve them best. In many instances, the data for such sites already
exists, but development of interactive software is a barrier to making
the information readily available. By creating a free software (called
MONAHRQ, “My Own Network, powered by AHRQ”), AHRQ is facilitating the
wide availability of useful health care data, including quality and
cost information. Key Contributors: Carol Sniegoski, AHRQ; Anne
Elixhauser, AHRQ; Taressa Fraze, Thomson Reuters Health Care.
Awards were announced by Secretary Sebelius in a ceremony at HHS
headquarters, with featured speaker Dean Hovey, a leading Silicon Valley
entrepreneur. The ceremony, as well as other information about HHSinnovates,
can be accessed at http://www.hhs.gov/open/innovate/index.html.
“President Obama has made clear the importance he places on innovation,
both in government and throughout the American economy,” said Todd Park,
HHS chief technology officer. “With the completion of round two, our HHSinnovates
program shows that innovation is not only alive and well but also
well-recognized and rewarded in HHS.”
Round three of HHSinnovates will begin with a call for
nominations in May.
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
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