Carnegie Mellon University, known as one of the nation’s leading computer science schools, offered a course on iPad programming.  On the first day, the 30-person class saw 90 students show up and had a 75-student waiting list.  The school is putting the course lectures online for free on iTunesU.  The course is intended to help students design better iPad apps and understand data visualization.

Find out more details in the recent article in Pittsburgh Business Times:  http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/innovation/2012/01/you-too-can-take-cmus-ipad.html?ed=2012-01-31&s=article_du&ana=e_du_pub.

The Rural Assistance Center and the National Rural Health Resources Center recently announced the release of an online health IT toolkit aimed at helping rural health care providers plan and implement health IT projects.

HHS’ Office of Rural Health Policy provided funding to support the development of the online toolkit (AHA News, 1/27).

Toolkit Details

The toolkit offers resources on:

• The planning, setup, implementation and maintenance of health IT systems;
• How to find health IT training programs, management expertise and funding support; and
• The meaningful use program.

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

Goals of Toolkit

The toolkit aims to help rural communities:

• Address hurdles to raising capital for health IT projects;
• Improve community college-based health IT training programs;
• Obtain federal resources to support health IT initiatives; and
• Stay informed about health IT policy (RAC release, 1/26).

Read more:  http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2012/1/31/groups-release-online-health-it-toolkit-for-rural-health-providers.aspx#ixzz1lAGwQOUr.

National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) University is back in session.  The new Spring 2012 semester kicked off February 1^st.  The NeHC University will welcome Gwenn Darlinger, Project Manager at Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, to lead another installment of HIT Orientation, a comprehensive introduction to health IT in under two hours!

The HIT Orientation program will provide students with an introduction to HITECH, ONC initiatives and a high-level view of the current HIT landscape in the U.S.  This class is designed for stakeholders who are new to the HIT field, new to NeHC University, or just need a refresher on some of the HIT basics.

• Register and join NeHC University’s HIT Orientation
• Learn more about NeHC University programs and the new Spring 2012 semester

ALA is offering a two-session online workshop “Integrating iPads and Tablet Computers into Library Services.”  The workshop includes examples of uses and policies from a few libraries, reviews of the apps that libraries are using, and reviews of the hardware options.  Even though the workshop does not have a health sciences focus, previous attendees recommend it highly.

More details:  http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=3495&zbrandid=4634&zidType=CH&zid=9884810&zsubscriberId=1026633937&zbdom=http://ala-publishing.informz.net

The National Science Foundation has released its biennial report, “Science and Engineering Indicators: 2012.”  The 600+ page compendium of data concerning research workforce and spending trends highlights the increased spending by China and India in scientific technology and education and a major drop in state funding for U.S. public research institution.  

http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=122859&org=NSB&from=news

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/

You may be interested in a new resource called the DMPTool (https://dmp.cdlib.org/).  Using the DMPTool templates and guidance, your researchers can:

• Create ready-to-use data management plans for specific funding agencies
• Meet requirements for data management plans
• Get step-by-step instructions and guidance for data management plan
• Learn about resources and services available at your institution to fulfill the data management requirements of their grants

Several universities and organizations are developing the DMPTool, led by the California Digital Library and the University of Virginia Library’s Scientific Data Consulting Group (SciDaC) (http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/brown/data/).

CMS has contracted with Lantana Consulting Group to convene two TEPs.  The TEP will provide input on the development, selection, and maintenance of quality measures for which CMS contractors are responsible. Convening the TEP is one important step in the measure development or reevaluation process that ensures transparency and allows an opportunity to obtain balanced, multi-stakeholders input. TEP members are recognized experts in the relevant fields including clinicians, statisticians, quality improvement experts, methodologists, and pertinent measure developers. TEP members are chosen to provide input to the measure contractor based on their personal experience and training. The TEP is chosen to represent a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds.

They are currently soliciting nominations for two Technical Expert Panels (TEPs) supporting a new “eQuality” project for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR incentive program established under ARRA HITECH.  More information and instructions for nominating yourself or others can be found at http://www.cms.gov/mms/15_technicalexpertpanels.asp

• The eQuality Continuity Assessment Record & Evaluation (CARE) TEP will review the proposed e-specifications for CARE and inform how CARE could fit into an EHR transfer of care workflow.

• The eQuality EHR Systems Reporting of Clinical Quality Measures TEP will help inform how EHR systems collect and report clinical quality measures in an electronic format and how such records could connect patient care outcomes with EHR clinical data.

You are invited to review the information on the website and consider participation.  They are extending the call for nominations past the stated deadline of November 23, 2011; however, they ask that you please notify them of your intent to submit a nomination by sending an email to eQualityTEP@lantanagroup.com.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has enhanced the Drug Naming Standard for Electronic Health Records.  The RxNorm standard clinical drug vocabulary produced by the NLM is now said to contain more accurate and complete connections between National Drug Codes (NDCs) and standard non-proprietary names of medications recommended for use in electronic health records (EHRs).  NLM, a component of the National Institutes of Health, claims to be the world’s largest medical library.

View article…

NLM is pleased to announce that Steve Emrick has been selected as the Terminology QA & User Services Unit Head, and Sara Tybaert as the Bibliographic Data Management Unit Head in the MEDLARS Management Section.

Steve Emrick joined the National Library of Medicine in 2007 as part of the MMS UMLS team where he performed UMLS data QA, developed Web documentation, and launched the UMLS Webcast series.  Before that, he worked in Juneau, Alaska at the Juneau Empire newspaper where he managed content on the Juneau Empire’s Website.   Steve also served as a Noncommissioned Officer in the United States Army as a Signals Intelligence Analyst in the Republic of Korea, in both the 2^nd Infantry Division and 501^st Military Intelligence Brigade.

Steve will transition to this position effective November 20, 2011.  As the Unit Head, Steve will be responsible for the management and supervision of his Unit and will assume the role of MMS UMLS Coordinator which oversees the production and quality assurance cycle of bi-annual UMLS releases.

Sara Tybaert has an established history of excellence in LO.  Sara came to the NLM with a diverse skill set that formed the foundation for her success working with multifaceted data and systems.  As a contractor with Library Systems and Services, she participated in the reclassification from the Dewey Decimal System to the NLM Classification of two libraries.  At OCLC she coordinated the activities of LS/2000, an integrated library system.  While employed with Centel Federal Services Corp, she provided technical support for DATALIB, an integrated library system, and JOURNALINK, a comprehensive union list service.

Sara’s start date is December 4, 2011.  Sara will continue her responsibilities related to maintaining NLM’s premier MEDLINE data including:  the coordination of Year End Processing; data quality control and testing; Serials Extract File collaboration; systems design, maintenance and testing; and, complex customer support duties while assuming her new supervisory role.

Dianne Babski, Head
MEDLARS Management Section
National Library of Medicine

MAR is pleased to announce the National Library of Medicine Training Center is bringing the PubMed for Trainers course to Syracuse, NY, April 16-30, 2012.  PubMed for Trainers requires attendance at all sessions, both online and in-person:

• Online session:  April 16, 2012, 10:00 – 12:00 pm ET
• Online session:  April 18, 2012, 10:00 – 12:00 pm ET
• In-person session in Syracuse, NY:  April 24, 2012, 9:30 – 4:30 pm ET
• Online session:  April 30, 2012, 10:00 – 12:00 pm ET

Seating is limited.  For class details and to register, see:  http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/classes/schedule.html#class359.