How small federal agencies support innovation and competitiveness in the scientific community
The federal government plays a role in promoting scientific innovation in the United States. It’s legally. In fact, it was the product of creating several laws and then shaping a small institution with a clumsy government name.
The Assistant Secretary for Technical Policy (often referred to as ASTP) of the National Health Information Technology Coordinator develops and oversees policies regarding Department of Health and Human Services data. ASTP is a small federal agency with an average annual budget of about $60 million. Through this budget, the agency coordinates data sharing within the HHS and between government agencies outside the department. But to have a greater impact, ASTP must be considered outside of government.
“We have to connect with the industry,” Stephen Konya, ASTP Innovation and Strategic Partnership, said Tuesday.
The Office of the National Health Information Technology Coordinator (ONC) was established by the Executive Order of 2004 signed by President George W. Bush. Konya said that as part of the HHS, the office’s mission is to promote national goals through interoperable national health IT infrastructure to improve national goals, thereby improving national goals to improve health care. The office works across all HHS agencies and is also the primary coordinator for all health IT adoption and implementation in partnership with the White House.
Konia said the office was established after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which led to data sharing across agencies. In healthcare, this means not only coordinating information from a federal agency, but also the industry and market as a whole. In 2009, the Federal Health Information Technology Technology (HITECH) Act was signed into law to promote the adoption and meaningful use of information technology. The bill also makes ASTP/ONC a formal federal agency. At the time, less than 10% of information in healthcare was in digital format, Konia said.
“The idea is how we can develop technology as a trillion dollar industry and stimulate more economic activity and growth,” Konia said.
In addition to transferring healthcare data to digital formats, the office is designed to make it interoperable and therefore can be used to reduce costs, create better outcomes for patients and be efficient for industry stakeholders. By 2016, 80% of healthcare information had become digital. Still, state and regional differences exist. Close these gaps is one of the goals of the 21st century Therapy Act. The digital components of the broad law were signed into law in 2016, including promoting the sharing of electronic health information. Today, more than 90% of healthcare information is formally found in digital format, Konia said.
Now, ASTP’s coordination within the government spans approximately 40 federal agencies outside the HHS. Within the HHS, the office coordinates with about 20 agencies within the department (although Konya says that the number will be cut in half as the reorganization is reorganized). Externally, outside the federal government, ASTP focuses on the integration of data issues with public health and human services. For example, Konya pointed to the Covid-19 pandemic, during which ASTP coordinated information on testing status and disease spread.
Konya said that the ASTP responsibilities are set out under the HITECH Act to promote more effective markets and greater competition. Although the agency does not have a regulatory body, it can coordinate and support access to government data. For example, ASTP can facilitate access to Medicare and Medicaid data centers to help the industry better understand payment models and their effectiveness.
Additional federal laws further expand the ASTP’s mission. The U.S. Competition Act was signed into law in 2007 to increase investment in scientific research to promote competitiveness in the United States. In the first Trump administration, ASTP launched a platform under the bill that enables the agency to participate in public-private partnerships, Konya said. These partnerships are known as “Innovationx”. One of them is the kidney, which promotes innovation in kidney treatment. Other subsequent Innovationx partnerships include PandemicX and Cancerx.
ASTP also works with the innovation community, spanning startups, investors, incubators, and more. Konya said in the agency’s role that his constituency includes implementing technology as well as early adopters of entrepreneurs and developers. This is also an investor.
“You understand where the portfolio fails and the headwinds they face,” Konya said of investors. “And you want them to hit certain benchmarks, you know what the problem is. So we have to let you know and understand that so you can deploy your capital most effectively.”
Photo: Nick Fanion, Medcity News
