The new HHS Innovation Fellows Program is looking for external ideas and expertise to accelerate the innovation process at the agency. The new program will bring external experts and entrepreneurs together to work with internal HHS “Host Innovation Fellows” to take on difficult challenges. The application period for the program is June 20, 2012 to July 20 2012.
External Fellows will come from non-federal backgrounds such as business, industry, and academia to bring innovation experience, models, and business practices to HHS. For the first round of the program, HHS is looking to place five to ten external innovation fellows in projects, starting in the fall of 2012.
For the first round of the program, the following projects will be initiated to:
· Accelerate clinical quality measures for ACA—ONC in partnership with CMS would like to develop new clinical quality measures to incorporate information available in EHRs to monitor the impact of HITECH and ACA
· Design the infrastructure for CHIP eligibility—CMS would like to develop an electronic infrastructure so that states will be able to implement the Modified Adjusted Gross Income method for determining eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP
· Build health resilience technology to withstand natural disasters—HHS and FEMA would like to develop innovative solutions to enable individuals with needs to continue to use their durable medical equipment (DME) such as medical devices powered by electricity during prolonged power outages
· Devise electronic tracking and transport of the nation’s organ transplant system—HRSA would like to revise the existing organ transplantation system to improve identification, labeling, packaging, and transport of the nation’s organs for transplantation. Also to include electronic components to identify organs and track their movement to minimize the potential for misdirection or other delays in organ transportation
