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Print Edition StoriesWednesday, May 12, 2010
Policy Tracker
SBIR program extension; Health IT program funding; ARRA job gains
MHT's Julie Donnelly: Colleges see uptick in interdisciplinary programs
MHT's Galen Moore: Tech sector lags in promoting women execs
MHT's Jackie Noblett: Lessons from the 2007 IPOs
SBIR program gets extension
A program that sets aside federal research and development contracts for small businesses received another short-term extension. The Small Business Innovation Research program was scheduled to expire April 30, but Congress passed legislation extending it another three months, through July 31. The SBIR program requires 11 federal agencies to set aside 2.5 percent of their outside research budgets for small businesses. Around 5,500 SBIR awards totaling $2 billion are awarded each year.
The extension “will allow the nation’s innovators and entrepreneurs to continue their work as we continue negotiations with the House for a longer, more comprehensive agreement,” said U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who chairs the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee.
— Kent Hoover ACBJ Wire Service
Feds fund health IT programs
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $220 million in economic stimulus funds to health information technology pilot programs through the Beacon Community awards. The 15 winners included two New England organizations. Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems in Brewer was awarded $12,749,740 to expand community connectivity, including long-term care, primary care and specialist providers, to an existing Health Information Exchange and to promote the use of telemedicine and patient self-management. Rhode Island Quality Institute in Providence, received $15,914,787 to improve the management of patients with diabetes through several health IT initiatives to support Rhode Island’s transition to the Patient Centered Medical Home model.
Mass. cites ARRA job gains
Massachusetts officials say that in the first three months of 2010, state agency awards from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have funded 6,400 full-time equivalent positions, an increase of more than 30 percent over last quarter. The Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Office, said the 6,400 number refers only to those ARRA awards required to be reported and granted directly to state government agencies. The office also said that more than 30,000 individuals have been put to work in Massachusetts under the Recovery Act since February 2009.
— MHT staff
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