 Make long-lasting connections with like-minded professionals next summer at the 11th International Congress on Nursing Informatics (NI2012) June 23-27, in Montreal. In addition to offering an educational, informative program that focuses on subjects like meaningful use and data exchange standards, NI2012 provides a venue for participants to exchange ideas and to learn from one another’s successes and failures. If you want to network and get updates on trends in informatics, register for NI2012. To learn more, click here.
 AMIA is currently offering two 10x10 courses with concentrations in different informatics specialties. Here’s a brief look at who should attend and what they’ll learn:
10x10 with The Ohio State University is a clinical research informatics based virtual course. The course begins Jan. 6 and is intended for biomedical and health informatics/IT professionals interested in the emerging domain of CRI; researchers and research staff involved in clinical and translational research; administrators and leaders at institutions/organizations responsible for conducting, sponsoring or overseeing clinical and translational research related activities; and anyone else with an interest in this emerging sub-domain of biomedical informatics. The goal of this course is to provide students with a survey of the rapidly emerging field of clinical research informatics. It will also define the CRI domain and highlight the key challenges and opportunities facing CRI.
10x10 with University of Minnesota School of Nursing is a nursing informatics based virtual course. The course begins Jan. 9 and is intended for nursing or other healthcare professionals, health science majors or computer/engineering professionals with an interest in health informatics. The primary focus is on the analysis, modeling, standardization and development and deployment of the electronic health records and safe exchange of patient data. The course examines the implications of informatics for practice, including nursing, public health and healthcare in general. Students will learn about electronic health record issues; relate ethical, legislative and political issues of informatics; and explore global and future informatics issues.
Also open in 2012 through the 10x10 program:
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10x10 with Kansas University – course begins Jan. 30
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10x10 with University of Utah – Public Health Informatics course – begins Feb.1
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10x10 with University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) – course begins March 1
To register or view course information for any of the above courses, click here. Back to top
Dr. Detmer’s article appears in Vol. 19, Issue 1 of JAMIA, the peer-reviewed research journal that reports on what’s happening in informatics in biomedicine and health six times a year and daily online.
The webinar begins at 3 p.m. EST, Thursday, Jan. 5. While the webinar is free, you must register in advance. To register and view archived presentations on the JAMIA Journal Club homepage, click here. AMIA members and non-members are welcome to participate.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), the Association of State Health Officials (ASTHO), the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII), and the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), established the Applied Public Health Informatics Fellowship (APHIF) to train recent graduates in the expanding field of applied public health informatics. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis for the APHIF Program.
This one-year Fellowship is designed to provide Informatics Fellows an accelerated training experience and on-the-job training at health departments in preparation for a career as a public health informatician at the state or local level. Fellows will have Master’s or Doctoral level education with demonstrated expertise in Public Health Informatics and a commitment to working in applied public health. Fellows work closely with highly trained and experienced informaticists, epidemiologists and public health practitioners at the state and local level, as well as with those working at the federal level with the CDC. Host health agencies are approved, with demonstrated capacity to provide a Fellow with technical training, applied research opportunities and opportunities for experience in the application of public health informatics in a practical setting.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through Feb. 1. For complete eligibility criteria and to apply, please click here. Contact aphif@cste.org or 770-458-3811 if you have any questions about the Fellowship program. Back to top
 The Prevention and Public Health Fund was established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to provide a stable and sustained investment—$15 billion over 10 years—in transformative, innovative public health and prevention initiatives. To date, the Fund has supported programs at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the CDC, including its National Center for Health Statistics, as well as HRSA and SAMHSA. However, the Fund currently faces a threat. Members of Congress have released a proposal (HR 3630) that would use more than half of the Fund to offset part of the cost of a two-year fix to Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), which is used to calculate payments to physicians. This fix will prevent physicians who see Medicare patients from taking a near 25 percent pay cut next year. However, cutting the Fund by $8 billion, or 68 percent, would be a significant loss to the public health community and public health agencies, including AHRQ and NCHS. Many organizations have been asked to engage their grassroots around this issue. AMIA is informing its members about the potential elimination of the Fund and the impact on these agencies’ ability to carry out their core missions. We invite you to contact your Congressional offices to voice any concerns that you might have.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final rule to make available standardized extracts of Medicare claims data to facilitate measuring the performance of providers and suppliers. The rule, authorized under the Affordable Care Act, was published in the Federal Register Dec. 7. Click here to learn more. Back to top
National Quality Forum has posted a list of 366 quality measures under consideration by HHS for the 2012 rulemaking process. The Measures Application Partnership (MAP), which is convened by NQF, will now evaluate these measures and provide input to HHS by Feb. 1. HHS will consider MAP’s input while drafting its rules to select measures. To view the measures under consideration, click on Measure List.
The NQF report evaluates how performance measures are currently being used in the field, by whom, and for what purpose; summarizes key barriers and facilitators to using measures; and identifies opportunities for maximizing standardized performance measures use moving forward. Click here for more information.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care (EHC) Program announced that a draft document on public reporting as a quality improvement strategy is available and open for comment on the EHC Web site until Jan. 9. The report, titled “Public Reporting as a Quality Improvement Strategy: A Systematic Review of the Multiple Pathways Public Reporting May Influence Quality of Health Care,” may be accessed by clicking here.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks “Advancing Health Services through System Modeling Research” proposals. Proposals will be accepted from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15. Click here for more information. Back to top
The AMIA election site opened today for members to vote on the proposed changes to AMIA’s Bylaws. As was announced during the recent 30-day open comment period, a major objective identified in AMIA’s Realigned Strategic Plan was the need to reconfigure AMIA’s bylaws and standard operating procedures to support a more streamlined and nimble organization. The new version removes many operational details and instead incorporates these details into handbooks and manuals that can be easily updated as the organization evolves. An e-mail was sent to each regular voting member today from Susanne Vellucci at Susanne@amia.org. If you did not receive an e-mail and you are a voting member, please contact us. Back to top
Share your expertise and passion with AMIA in 2012 by volunteering to participate in one of AMIA’s committees for the 2012-13 term. This is a chance to participate at the grassroots level where ideas that end up as proposals are developed. Click here for additional information. We need your ideas, your expertise, and your leadership skills.
 AMIA's members are its most valuable assets and ambassadors. Help AMIA grow in 2012 by talking to colleagues, students and other informatics professionals about joining the association. In addition to building professional relationships, tell them about other perks of membership. Here are a few:
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uninterrupted access to JAMIA, AMIA’s premier journal (enhanced content in 2012)
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weekly updates, AMIA E-News
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world-class networking opportunities like AMIA’s new communites.amia.org
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educational opportunities and many different special events.
If you’re a member and haven’t received a renewal notice, please contact Ceira Blount at ceira@amia.org. You can also renew online by clicking here. Select the appropriate invoice and follow the check out process. 
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Jan. 9
Jan. 30
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Join Editor-in-Chief Lucila Ohno-Machado and guest author Don E. Detmer, MD, MA, FACS, Medical Director for Advocacy and Health Policy at the American College of Surgeons, Professor Emeritus and Professor of Medical Education at the University of Virginia, online to discuss: 
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