In the early morning hours of Friday March 23, the United States congress passed a $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill allowing the government to spend money through September 2018. The bill passed 65-32 in the senate, averting a potential government shutdown and funding the government through September 30.

This omnibus bill (like many other historical omnibus bills) contains a lot of new legislation, and we’re just starting to learn about some of the impacts of this new legislation now. Specifically, there are some provisions in this new bill that impact the way that we all use technology.

As I started doing research to help senior living organizations select the appropriate hardware for the clinical staff to document care on, I was utterly astounded at how big of a difference there was between medical grade and consumer grade hardware.  In fact, I was surprised to learn there was even such a thing as “medical grade” hardware!  As I learned more about what those differences were and how they impacted the investment that senior living organizations were making when purchasing POC devices, I now see the vitality of such a consideration when making a selection.