“Alright, everyone, fresh start.” Joy, an animated character voiced by comedian Amy Poehler, is the beacon of positivity that says this in the 2015 Disney-Pixar film Inside Out. The sequel, a continuation about the inner thoughts of a young girl, is in theaters this weekend. I am looking forward to believing again – like I did when I was a kid (and yesterday) – that there are little people in my head that are in charge of my emotions and decisions. Like the movie character “Anger” explodes all the time, which is sometimes harnessed to accomplish a challenging task (which happens in real life every day around here). After reading the One Thoughtful Paragraph below, you may be forced to agree that healthcare policy leaders are listening to the little people in their heads.
What the little people did this week in the news:
- U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise met with Republican members of the AI task force to discuss the party’s positioning on regulating artificial intelligence this week.
- The White House secured a commitment from Microsoft and Google to extend support for rural hospital cyber defense. Microsoft will provide grants and discounts on security products to rural emergency hospitals, and Google will provide security advice while funding software migration.
- ONC opened a 60-day comment period for its USCDI+ Maternal Health draft data set – requesting feedback by July 31, 2024.
“I read somewhere that an empty room is an opportunity.” This is how Joy spins a difficult moment after the family in the movie Inside Out moves across the country to a house with no furniture. What’s funny is this is how health policy is created these days. Historically, policy was developed with furniture already in the room: Congress would be moved by stakeholder complaints about an issue, hold a hearing to learn more from experts, draft legislation designed to fix the problem, and the relevant federal agency would propose a way to implement the law. Then, industry experts would comment / complain about the proposed rule, the federal agency would publish a final rule, and boom – problem solved. Nowadays, life is so complicated – particularly in the health IT space – that it feels like Congress is looking at an empty room. They ask for suggestions about what they should do, not just how to fix a problem. For example, U.S. Congressman and physician Ami Bera recently did this to get help with regulating health AI. Now, U.S. Representatives DeGette and Buschon are asking whether there should be another 21st Century Cures Act bill – which helped modernize drug, device, and health IT development over the last eight years. Also this week, the HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking public comment about how to create a sustainable national hub for clinical decision support (CDS) tools. All of these questions and opportunities require a lot of positive thinking and creativity. It is why we can relate when Joy says to Sadness: “Say something positive” and Sadness responds: “I’m positive you’ll get lost in there.”
