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During the 2000 Session, the General Assembly considered eighty-one technology related bills, forty of which were enacted. This article summarizes the more significant technology bills enacted during this session. One of these bills, House Bill 719,1 enlarged the Joint Commission on Technology and Science ("JCOTS"). The 1997 Virginia General Assembly created JCOTS aas a permanent legislative agency" to "generally study all aspects of technology and science and endeavor to stimulate, encourage, promote, and assist in the development of technology and science in the Commonwealth and sound public policies related thereto." JCOTS, which originally consisted of nine legislators-five delegates and four senators-is now made up of twelve members-seven delegates and five senators. During the 2000 Session, JCOTS recommended and the members of JCOTS patroned fifteen technology related bills. Of these bills, eleven have been enacted.

Context Global positioning system (GPS) collars are increasingly used to study animal ecology. However, understanding their real-world performance is important so that biases in data collection can be addressed. These biases may be species specific. Few studies have examined the influence of sex or temporal variation on locational fix success rates (FSR), and none has assessed GPS-collar performance on bison (Bison bison). Aims To test for sex- and temporal-based biases on the performance of GPS collars on free-ranging bison. Methods Data from 59 deployments of 37 GPS collars on 27 female and seven male bison was used to test for temporal variation and differences between sexes on collar-deployment success rates and four fix acquisition metrics. Key results Most (72.9%) of the 55 GPS collars retrieved malfunctioned before reaching their expected deployment schedule (2 years). We observed a significant difference in the performance of GPS collars deployed on male and females, with those on females functioning almost three times longer. All four fix metrics differed between sexes, with males having significantly better metrics. For females, nightly fix metrics were better than the daytime ones, whereas for males, there was no difference. We observed a significant difference in fix metrics between seasons for females, but not males. Conclusions Although the data from GPS collars may be useful in understanding animal ecology, understanding associated biases can aid in the design of field studies using, and the interpretation of results stemming from, GPS collars. Temporal variation in our study was apparent for females, but not males, and likely related to differences in habitat use and movements. Overall, sex had a significant influence on the success of GPS-collar deployments on bison, and should be examined for other species as well. Implications Bison damage to the collars was the main reason for collar failures. Researchers should plan for catastrophic failures and malfunctions when deploying GPS collars on bison, particularly adult males. Significant differences observed between daily and seasonal FSR for females were small (≤4.9%), and do not warrant post hoc treatment before analyses.

Quality improvement (QI) work is critical, particularly in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) that treat underserved populations. In a national sample of 45 FQHCs, we examined how patients' sociodemographic characteristics were associated with employee engagement in QI, via innovation contests that solicited ideas for improving care and offered opportunities to vote on ideas. We posited that patients' sociodemographic characteristics influence the complexity and intensity of clinical work and thus employees' capacity to engage in QI. Regression results indicated that the percentage of patients living in poverty was negatively associated with employee participation in idea submission and voting. Moreover, the percentage of Hispanic patients was negatively associated with participation in voting. The percentage of Black patients, however, was not associated with either outcome. FQHCs that serve a higher share of low income and/or Hispanic patients may face resource and personnel constraints that reduce employees' capacity to contribute to QI efforts.

During its 1999 Session, the Virginia General Assembly passed sixty-four pieces oflegislation related to technology that were signed into law. Of these, eighteen bills and resolutions were proposed by the Joint Commission on Technology and Science ("JCOTS").

During its 1998 Session, the Virginia General Assembly passed forty-three bills related to technology that were signed into law. Of these, six bills were proposed by the Joint Commission on Technology and Science ("JCOTS"). This article summarizes several enacted bills and provides reference numbers for each bill discussed in the 1998 Acts of Assembly ("1998 Acts"). Given the breadth, depth, and speed of the technological revolution, the purpose of this article is to discuss succinctly the most significant 1998 legislative actions related to technology in areas of substantive law, practice, and procedure.

To foster bottom-up innovations, health care organizations are leveraging interdisciplinary frontline innovation teams. These teams include workers across hierarchical levels and professional backgrounds, pooling diverse knowledge sources to develop innovations that improve patient and worker experiences and care quality, equity, and costs. Yet, these frontline innovation teams experience barriers, such as time constraints, being new to innovation, and team-based role hierarchies. We investigated the practices that such teams in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) used to overcome these barriers. Our 20-month study of two FQHC innovation teams provides one of the first accounts of how practices that sustained worker engagement in innovation and supported their ideas to implementation evolve over time. We also show the varied quantity of engagement practices used at different stages of the innovation process. At a time when FQHCs face pressure to innovate amid staff shortages, our study provides recommendations to support their work.