Health Information Exchange Summit: Feb 4-5, 2010

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Mike Squires

HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE SUMMIT: Feb 4-5, 2010
http://www.hiesummit.com/at-a-glance.html
Online Attendance Registration (starts at $795 for government, academia; $1,395 for others)
Three Conference Agendas

Pre-conference summary and agenda excerpted from HIE Summit Web site.
“A variety of new federal programs directed to states, such as those related to health information exchange capacity, technical assistance to support health IT adoption for “meaningful use” and pilot projects involving public and private sector payers, have recently been launched. These developments require that state and local leaders – and the key leaders across every sector of healthcare involved in these activities – react quickly to drive for success in this new and challenging terrain, with high visibility and significant investment at stake. In addition, the foundational infrastructures built and enhanced through these investments – if well implemented – can offer foundational support for healthcare reform efforts related to improvements in both care delivery and population health.”The National Health Information Exchange Summit is designed to support national, state and local leaders in effectively navigating the challenges related to building health information exchange capacity across physician practices, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, health plans, to support care delivery and improvements in population health. Participants will learn about emerging trends and policies that will impact their programs and will receive recommendations about how to respond, alternative strategies being employed across the field and their effectiveness, and best practices for deployment in the following key areas: –Designing and employing good governance practices to drive success
–Building in a sustainable model to support efforts when the grant money runs out
–Developing and employing good policies and practices related to privacy and security to comply with new laws and rules, and build trust within your community
–Navigating the numerous technical options–and deciding which strategy is right for your community
–Aligning state and local efforts to maximize impact and success
–Successfully employing good procurement policies to achieve outcomes
–Designing communication and engagement policies and practices to facilitate transparency and trust across stakeholder groups and with the public

“Through a combination of carefully selected keynote presentations, small workshops and networking sessions, participants will significantly expand their knowledge base and build a network of support for future dialogue. The National Health Information Exchange Summit is a must-attend event for any federal, state or local leader – across the range of stakeholder groups – who are either leading or participating in initiatives related to the use of health IT and health information exchange to improve health and healthcare.”

AGENDA
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2010
Joint Plenary Session 8 AM – 12 PM
–Aneesh Chopra, US CTO, The White House
–David Blumenthal, National Coordinator, HHS
–Carolyn Clancy, MD, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
–Troyen Brennan, EVP and CMO, CVS Caremark
–J. Marc Overhage, President and CEO, IHIE
–Sue McAndrew, Dep. Director for Health Information Privacy, Office for Civil Rights, HHS
–Steven J Stack, MD, Emergency Physician, AMA Trustee
–Reed Tuckson, EVP and Chief Medical Affairs, UnitedHealthGroup

Plenary Session 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM
–John Glaser, Senior Advisor, ONC
–Bruno Nardone, Assoc. Partner, IBM Global Business Services
Track Sessions 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2010
Closing Plenary Session 8:00 AM – 12 PM
–Michael Rapp, CMS—Director, Quality Measurement and Health Assessment Group, Office of Clinical Standards and Quality
–John Halamka, CIO, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
–Mark Frisse, MD, MBA, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt
–J. Marc Overhage, President and CEO, IHIE; Dir., Medical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute
–David Cochran, Pres and CEO, Vermont Information Technology Leaders
–Keith Hepp, CFO and VP, BusDev, Healthbridge
–William Rollow, MD, MPH, Health Care Value and Transformation, IBM Global Business Services
–Arthur Glasgow, Sr VP, Gen’l Mgr, Health Information Networks, Ingenix

NJ HIT Commission Cancels Feb 11, 2010 meeting; will reschedule

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Mike Squires

NJ HIT Commission to cancels Thur, Feb 11, 2010 meeting
New Jersey Health IT Commission has cancelled it meeting scheduled for Thursday, February 11, 2010, and will set a time to meet later in February due to weather-related travel issues. Three national summits were going on in Washington, DC the first week in February which initially led to scheduling commission meeting second week of February instead of the usual first Thursday of month. The national meetings focused on HIPAA, Health IT for Government leaders, and Health Information Exchange. More info on those conferences to come.

Blumenthal Letter #8: Standards and Certification Criteria to Support Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Mike Squires

Blumenthal Letter/Update # 8: Standards and Certification Criteria to Support Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records

Dr. David Blumenthal

Emailed December 30, 2009

A Message from Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

As we look toward 2010, we can envision a transformation of our health system to improve health care quality, efficiency, equity, and safety through the use of health information technology (HIT), while providing the foundation for continued, measurable improvement in our nation’s health. The adoption and meaningful use of information technology in health care is central to a necessary and overdue modernization of our health system.

As required by the HITECH Act, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published an initial set of standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria to enhance the interoperability, functionality, utility, and security of health information technology. These criteria are outlined in the interim final rule (IFR) on Standards & Certification Criteria issued today by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

The IFR provides details on requirements for “certified” electronic health record (EHR) systems, and the technical specifications needed to support secure, interoperable, nationwide electronic exchange and meaningful use of health information.

In a related announcement, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that outlines provisions governing the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs, including a proposed definition for the central concept of “meaningful use” of EHR technology. In order for professionals and hospitals to be eligible to receive payments under the incentive programs, provided through the Recovery Act, they must be able to demonstrate meaningful use of a certified EHR system. The proposed standards and certification criteria in the IFR are fundamentally linked to and specifically designed to support the 2011 meaningful use criteria.

Great care was taken in the development of these criteria, with input from the public and federal advisory committees every step of the way. The resulting standards and certification criteria in the IFR are organized into four categories as recommended by the HIT Policy Committee and HIT Standards Committee:

Content Exchange Standards (i.e., standards used to share clinical information such as clinical summaries, prescriptions, and structured electronic documents);
Vocabulary Standards (i.e., standard nomenclature used to describe clinical problems and procedures, medications, and allergies);
Transport Standards (i.e., standards used to establish the communication protocol between systems); and
Privacy and Security Standards (e.g., authentication, access control, transmission security/encryption) which relate to and span across all of the other types of standards.

While well-defined data and technical standards are the foundation for interoperability between systems – allowing for reliable, consistent, secure, and accurate information exchange – we recognize that a high-level of nationwide interoperability will take time and will occur at varying rates. Therefore, our approach to the adoption of standards and certification criteria is pragmatic, yet forward looking. The criteria are designed to be supportive of the staged meaningful use requirements, but at the same time lay the foundation for future growth in information exchange and technological innovation.

An incremental approach to standards adoption requires harmonization with current and future standards to come. We will continue to be guided by recommendations from our federal advisory committees, public comment, industry readiness, and future meaningful use goals and objectives established for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs. We anticipate this ongoing evolution in standards and certification criteria development as meaningful use requirements become more demanding over time and as industry continues to spur adoption through its innovative offerings.

Now, we ask for your continued input to inform the final regulations due in 2010.

Additional information on both of these regulations and how you can contribute to the open public comment periods can be found through the HHS news release issued today and at the http://HealthIT.HHS.Gov website.

At ONC, we look forward to your continued and active participation in HITECH programming and ongoing rulemaking processes in the new year.

Sincerely,
David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P.
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) encourages you to share this information as we work together to enhance the quality, safety and value of care and the health of all Americans through the use of electronic health records and health information technology.

For more information and to receive regular updates from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, please subscribe to our Health IT News list.

END OF eMAIL UPDATE

–For more in this topic, see previous post from Dec 30, 2009 on e-Healthcare Marketing.
–For Blumenthal’s Dec 30, 2009 blog post, see ONC’s Health IT Buzz, ” A Defining Moment for Meaningful Use.”

‘Beacon’ communities must show HIT bona fides

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Mike Squires

‘Beacon’ communities must show HIT bona fides
Mary Mosquera reported in Government Health IT on Dec 14, 2009, “To become a ‘beacon’ community, applicants must have an established track record of using health IT to improve health care in at least one category — cost efficiency, quality of care or population health, said Dr. Farzad Mostashari, senior advisor to the Office of the National Coordinator for health IT during a Dec. 14 teleconference.”

Beacon Communities Technical Call Documents from ONC site
Slides
Transcript

–For overview of program and links to Announcment and FAQs, see this post on e-Healthcare Marketing.
–Dr. Blumenthal’s Update #5 “Beacon Communities: Shining a Light on the Real Impacts of Health IT” is also posted on e-Healthcare Marketing.

Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals in Health Care Program: ONC Documents

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Mike Squires

Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information
Technology Professionals in Health Care Program:
ONC Documents
Excerpted from ONC Web site on 11/25/09:
“The Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals in Health Care program seeks to rapidly create HIT academic programs at Community Colleges (as defined by the 1965 Higher Education Act) or expand existing ones. Each student with appropriate prerequisite training and experience will be able to complete intensive training in one of six roles within six months or less.

“Roles include:
–Practice workflow and information management redesign specialists;
–Clinician/practitioner consultants;
–Implementation support specialists;
–Implementation managers;
–Technical/software support staff; and,
–Trainers.

“Academic programs may be offered through traditional on-campus instruction or distance learning modalities, or combinations thereof. This program is critical to achieving the goal of HITECH and supporting the work of the regional centers.

“It is expected that by the end of the two-year project period, collectively all of the Community Colleges participating in the program will have established training programs with the capacity to train at least 10,500 students annually to be part of the HIT workforce.”

“Learn more about the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals in Health Care:
Funding Opportunity Announcement:
Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information
Technology Professionals in Health Care [MS Word doc - 964 KB]

“To see the full announcement,
go to http://www.grants.gov/search/basic.do
and search for CFDA# 93.721

“Frequently Asked Questions”
“Please note: This section is updated frequently. Please check back often for updates.”

Key Dates for Application

FOA Details	Date	Section Reference
Technical Assistance Teleconferences	1) December 16, 2009 12:00 p.m. (noon) EST 2) January 15, 2010
Letter of Intent	January 06, 2010, by 11:59 p.m. EST	Section IV.B.1 – Application and Submission Information
Application Due Date	January 22, 2010 by 11:59 p.m. EST	Section IV – Application and Submission Information
Anticipated Award Date	March 15, 2010	VI.A – Award Administration Information
Total Funding	$70,000,000

ONC Web site for: College Consortia Program to Educate Health IT Professionals

Please see prior e-Healthcare Marketing post for initial press info on this funding initiative.

HHS’s ONC to Put Regional Extension Center Rollout on Doubletime; First cycle awards upped to 40 from 20

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Mike Squires

HHS’s ONC to Put Regional Extension Center Rollout on Doubletime;
First cycle awards upped to 40 from 20; Rollout to be completed 6 months ahead of schedule
On November 23, 2009, HHS’s Office of the National of the Coordinator for Health IT quietly revealed its intention to award funds to about 40 Regional Extension Centers (RECs) in the first cycle, up from about 20 regional centers originally planned for the first round. Funding announcements for all 70 or so RECs are now scheduled to be completed in two funding cycles, instead of three, by March 31, 2010. This puts the REC funding announcements six months ahead of the original schedule. Total REC funding has also been expanded to $640 million from the $598 million originally planned.

The revised schedule on the newly posted FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement and Grant Application Instructions) shows the first cycle of awards will be announced by January 21, 2010, a six-week delay from the original December 2009 decision date. The second and final cycle awards will be announced by March 31, 2010, a month ahead of the original second round date and six months ahead of the now cancelled third-cycle announcements.

While preliminary applications for the second cycle are still due December 22, 2009, preliminary approval has been shortened to January 5, 2010. Full applications will be due January 29, 2010, about a month ahead of schedule.

Both the quality of the initial applications and the increasingly apparent need to put facts on the ground to build the momentum necessary to meet ARRA requirements may have contributed to this dramatic speedup of the process.

Health Information Technology Extension Program
Excerpted from ONC Web site on 11/24/09
Updated 11/23/09 Funding Opportunity Announcement:
Health Information Technology Extension Program: Regional Centers Cooperative Agreement Program [doc]

Attachment 1 [xls]

“To see the full announcement, go to http://www.grants.gov/search/basic.do and search for CFDA# 93.718 – please note that, when accessing the opportunity announcement from grants.gov, Attachment 1 is embedded in the same download file as the rest of the Funding Opportunity Announcement, following the appendices.”

“Due to the competitive nature of the Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers funding opportunity, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is unable to provide individual responses to specific questions regarding grant proposal requirements, review, selection, or award. We will post answers to frequently asked and/or generally applicable questions on the Health Information Technology Extension Program section of the ONC programmatic Web site at: http://healthit.hhs.gov/extensionprogram. ”

Key Dates and Submission Times,
excerpted from the FOA released on November 23, 2009:

Initial Cycle	Approx Funding	Preliminary Application	Preliminary Approval	Full Applications	Anticipated Awards Date
1	$350,000,000*	September 8, 2009	September 29, 2009	November 3, 2009	January 21 2010
2	$290,000,000*	December 22, 2009	January 5^th 2010	January 29th , 2010	March 31^st 2010
3	This cycle will be canceled and the funds will be reallocated to the first two cycles
* The approximate funding for this announcement is increased by $43 million.

See original funding schedule for Regional Extension Centers on this August 22, 2009 post on e-Healthcare Marketing.

Pennsylvania HIE (PHIX) Releases Strategic Plan; Leverages Delaware HIE (DHIN)

Posted on November 22, 2009 by Mike Squires

Pennsylvania HIE Releases Strategic Program;
Leverages Delaware HIE (DHIN)
Pennsylvania Health Information Exchange (PHIX) released its strategic plan (pdf) for public comment last week in conjunction with Pennsylviania’s (Medicaid) Medical Assistance HIT Plan, which was released November 17, 2009. The PHIX plan proposes to “piggyback” on the highly-touted Delaware Health Information Network’s (DHIN) “existing contract for a proven technical platform which is based on interoperable standards. The DHIN platform is scalable to Pennsylvania’s needs and capable of handling the policies and procedures specific to Pennyslvania’s legal requirements independent of Delaware’s requirements.”

“The DHIN platform offers health systems and hospitals the ability to use edge-server technology where their data is houses remotely on a secure drive under their control. In this model the relevant data is uploaded to the edge server and is available for health care provider inquiries. The advantage of this architecture is faster response time and the ability ot exchange data without touching or impacting a health system or hospital information system.” The plan anticipates saving as much as 12 to 18 months in implementation time, immediately leveraging the infrastrucure on which DHIN has already invested $20 million, and building on “operational policies, procedures, and relationships with vendors’ developed by DHIN.”

PHIX expects an allocation of $17.1 million in HIE grant funding from ONC, and the state has already committed $1 million. Public comments for the PHIX plan are due by December 20, 2009. The Medical Assistance HIT program will launch a listening tour around the state this year and in 2010.

Medical Assistance HIT Program Information for Stakeholders
Excerpted from PA Dept. of Public Welfare
Information For Consumers
“The MA Health IT Initiative will have a huge impact on a consumer’s experience in the health care system. The MA Health It Initiative is designed to empower the patient and provide them access to their own health care information. The initiative is also designed to improve communications between patients and providers allowing for easier follow up on recommended care, quick updates of new health status information and greater accountability for care for both the provider and the patient.

“Some of the main features of the initiative include:

E-Prescribing which is aimed at reducing patient wait times at pharmacies and in decreasing adverse drug interactions
Electronic referrals streamline process and eliminate paper forms
Reduced need to provide medical information and history multiple times
Possible life saving medical information available in an emergency situation
Access information in their own electronic health record”

Information for Hospitals
“Hospital and Health System providers will find that the MA Health IT Initiative will help in efforts to improve the quality of care and implement cost containment measures.

Improve Communication
“This includes communications between health care providers and with patients.Features of this program include:

Increased ability to document communication with patients
Enhanced ability to outreach to patients regarding both preventative care and adherence to chronic care needs

E-Prescribing
“This would allow providers to send prescriptions to pharmacies in electronic format. E-Prescribing will help to:

Reduce errors due to deciphering handwriting
Create and instant record of prescriptions to check for drug interactions
Reduce patients responsibility in obtaining prescriptions

Ordering Tests and Referrals
“The initiative would allow providers the ability to order tests and send referrals electronically. This would benefits providers by:

Reducing Paperwork
Automating referrals to reduce administrative error
Expediting the process of returning results, which could also be sent electronically

“In addition, implementing EHR’s and other forms of Health IT will increase access to immediate decision support tools like clinical guidelines, reduce staff time spent on administrative tasks, reduce time spent charting patient information, and allow providers and health care facilities the ability to make back-up copies of a patients medical history in case of emergencies or natural disasters.”

Pennsylvania HIT Plans
GOHCR (Governor’s Office of Health Care Reform)
PA Health Information Exchange (PHIX) Proposed Strategic Plan Nov 2009 (pdf)

PA (Medicaid) Medical Assistance HIT Program:
PA Medical Assistance HIT Initiative Web site
PA MA HIT Proposal: Transforming Health Care Delivery Through the Use of Information Technology: Vision and Goals of the MA Health IT Initative in Pennsylvania (pdf) included within PHIX proposal
PA Medical Assistance HIT Proposal Slides

Quality Not Top Priority For Nearly Half of Hospital Boards: New Survey

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Mike Squires

New Study Shows Quality Not Top Priority for Nearly Half of Hospital Boards
From a Health Affairs Press Release: Health Affairs published a study on November 6, 2009 “surveying a nationally representative sample of board chairs in 1,000 U.S. hospitals. The results found that just half the boards rated quality of care as one of their two top priorities and only a minority reported receiving training in quality. This is the first national study of board chairs linked to quality performance.”

“Hospital Governance And The Quality Of Care”
By Ashish K. Jha and Arnold M. Epstein
Abstract
Author affiliations:
Jha and Epstein are affiliated with the Harvard School of Public Health

“In identifying the factors that affect the quality of hospital care, leadership and governance have emerged as areas of particular interest. Since boards of directors could have an impact on quality of care, this study evaluated how hospital leadership values quality. The authors collected their data during the winter of 2007-08 by randomly selecting 1,000 institutions from a group of over 3,000 nonprofit acute care hospitals that reported quality data to the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) in 2007. They reached out to their board chairs, and achieved a response rate of 78.3 percent.

“Of those surveyed, a little over half identified quality as one of the two top priorities for board oversight, and only 44% reported that quality of care was important for evaluating the performance of the chief executive officer (CEO). For 63% of the institutions, quality performance was consistently an agenda item at board meetings, compared to financial performance, which was consistently on the agenda at 93% of the hospitals.

“In contrasting hospitals that had scored well in on quality measures with their lower-performing counterparts, the data revealed major differences in attitudes, priorities, and activities around quality of care. “Our data provide clear evidence of an association between an engaged board and high quality care, although we cannot yet pinpoint a causal link,” said Ashish Jha, the study’s lead author. “Most boards have primarily focused on financial issues, mistakenly assuming that their hospital’s quality of care is adequate. Major opportunities exist to shift the knowledge, training, and practices of hospital boards to promote a focus on safe, effective care.”

“This project was funded by the Hauser Center for Non-Profit Governance at Harvard Law School and the Rx Foundation.”

States Get Involved:
New Jersey Hospital Boards–Governance and Quality
In story titled ”This is a test: Exams for governance boards on quality measures could be a way to improve care, accountability in hospitals,” Modern Healthcare’s Melanie Evans on November 16, 2009, spoke with Sally Roslow, New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) vice president of development and trustee relations. According to the story, NJHA ”is expected to give more weight to quality training to promote further education on the issue” in a voluntary training program for trustees on hospital governance that NJHA anticipates launching in 2010. Over 95% of New Jersey hospital boards met a new state requirement that trustees and directors attend seven hours on basic governance by August 2009.

Cheryl Clark reported in HealthLeaders Media on November 9, 2009,”Carlin Lockee, managing editor of the Governance Institute, which assists hospital boards, says she was surprised at the study’s results. She says they differ from the Institute’s similar surveys of nonprofit hospital CEOs.”

EHR Adoption: US Hospitals, Caring for Poor; State, Federal Initiatives; Meaningful Use

Posted on November 17, 2009 by Mike Squires

EHR Adoption: US Hospitals, Caring for Poor; Role of State, Federal Initiatives; and Meaningful Use

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Report
Health Information Technology in the United States:
On the Cusp of Change 2009
(See Web sites and downloads below.)
Health Information Technology in the US: On the Cusp of Change 2009, published Oct-Nov 2009, is the third report of a series produced since 2006. The “State of the Field” report consists of five articles on EHR to “share the lessons of the ONCHIT more broadly and review what is known about the state of EHR adoptions and its implications for improving health care quality.” It was jointly produced by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, George Washington University Medical Center, and Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners Health System.

Chapter 1: Beyond the Doctor’s Office: Adoption of Electronic Health Records in U.S. Hospitals.
Ashish K. Jha, M.D., M.P.H., Catherine M. DesRoches, Dr.P.H., Eric G. Campbell, Ph.D., Karen Donelan, Sc.D., Sowmya R. Rao, Ph.D., Timothy G. Ferris, M.D., M.P.H., Alexandra Shields, Ph.D., Sara Rosenbaum, J.D.

Chapters 1 and 2 are based on a 2008 survey conducted in conjunction with American Hospital Association to survey all acute care general medical/surgical member hospitals in US. While results show under 10% of hospitals have either comprehensive EHR (<2%) or basic (<8%), about 8 out of ten hospitals offered hospital-wide views of lab and radiology reports and radiology images. One out of five had hospital-wide computerzied order entry and clinical decision support. Earlier article based on this survey was published in New England Journal of Medicine in March 2009. Finances were cited as leading cause of non-implementation.

Chapter 2: Adoption of Electronic Health Records Among Hospitals that Care for the Poor: Early Evidence of a New Healthcare Digital Divide?
Ashish K. Jha, M.D., M.P.H., Catherine M. DesRoches, Dr.P.H., Eric G. Campbell, Ph.D., Alexandra Shields, Ph.D., Paola D. Miralles, B.S., Jie Zheng, Ph.D., Sowmya R. Rao, Ph.D., and Sara Rosenbaum, J.D.

This article was published online Oct 26, 2009 on HealthAffairs.org, and examines the relationship between poor hospital populations and rate and value of EHR implementation.

Chapter 3: State Roles in the Advancement of Health Information Technology.
Steffanie J. Bristol, B.S., Paola D. Miralles, B.S.

State governments adopted 168 legislative measures about HIT between 2005 and 2008 with topics including ”planning and oversight, HIE, advacning adoption and implementation, funding, and privacy protection and security.” States have an important but fiscal-challenged role in current economic environment.

Chapter 4: Recent Federal Initiatives in Health Information Technology.
Melissa M. Goldstein, J.D., Lee Repasch, M.A., and Sara Rosenbaum, J.D.

Chapter 4 examines impact of “meaningful use,” “certified EHR,” and financial incentives on caring for vulnerable populations.

Chapter 5: Potential Implications of Widely Adopted Meaningfully Used HIT: Is Quality Measurement and Reporting About to Take Flight?
Michael W. Painter, J.D., M.D.

Chapter 5 focuses on impact of EHR adoption and public reporting of quality data. “This technology may make clinical data extraction both efficient and inexpensive, which would facilitate large-scale clinical performance measurement efforts.”

Health Information Technology in the United States:
On the Cusp of Change 2009 – Web Page
Executive Summary Full Report
RWJF Release on Digital Divide

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation HIT Reports
Health IT in the US, 2008 Report Page
Health IT in the US, 2006 Report Page

This post contains summaries of and links to copyrighted content from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

ONC Adds ‘Information Exchange’ FAQ Section to State HIE Coop Agreeement FAQs

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Mike Squires

Information Exchange FAQ Added to ONC’s
FAQs on State HIE Cooperative Agreement Programs
[updated 11/12/09]
(e-Healthcare Marketing Note: This new FAQ section, Information Exchange, focuses on the necessity of eliminating barriers to information exchange. The following is produced in full as of 11/14/09. ONC recommends checking FAQs frequently.)

E3. How does information exchange support the goals of the HITECH Act?

The HITECH Act seeks to improve patient care and make it patient-centric through the creation of a secure, interoperable nationwide health information network. A key premise is that information should follow the patient, and artificial obstacles — technical, bureaucratic, or business related — should not be a barrier to the seamless exchange of information. Therefore, secure information exchange needs to occur across institutional and business boundaries so that the appropriate information is available to improve coordination, efficiency, and quality of care.

E2. How does the HITECH Act address barriers to information exchange?

Commercial barriers. The HITECH Act calls for the “development of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of information and that…promotes a more effective marketplace, greater competition…[and] increased consumer choice” among other goals. (PHSA, Section 3001(b)) It does not support arrangements that restrict for business or proprietary purposes the secure, private exchange of information required for patient care. Consumers, patients and their caretakers should not feel locked into a single health system or exchange arrangement because it does not to permit or encourage the sharing of information.

Economic barriers. The HITECH Act provides incentives for providers and hospitals for the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). Although the official definition of “Meaningful Use” is still in development, the HITECH Act specifically highlights “information exchange” as one requirement for the incentives.

Technical barriers. The HITECH Act focuses on “interoperability,” meaning that policies, programs, and incentives must aim for EHR software and systems that can share information with other EHR software and systems. To support this, HHS will invest in the infrastructure to “support the nationwide electronic exchange and use of health information …including connecting health information exchanges…” HHS works with all partners in the health care and health IT industries to develop the technologies and policies to deliver information securely, privately, and accurately to whomever needs to see it on behalf of the patient’s health.

E1. What role do the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreements Program and the Health Information Technology Extension Program play in supporting this goal?

The state health information exchange program authorized in HITECH Section 3013, totaling $564 million, will support states and state-designated entities to advance mechanisms for information sharing across the health care system. It targets information exchange across boundaries, not only within each state but explicitly as part of a nationwide framework. These grantees’ activities must support interoperability that lets patient data follow the patient across political and geographic boundaries. The extension program authorized in HITECH 3012, totaling $693 million, will provide technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of EHRs. The national Health Information Technology Research Center and the Regional Extensions Centers will help providers establish interoperable EHRs and implement the health information exchange requirements for the incentives.

Main HIE Cooperative Agreement FAQ page
          Background FAQs Updated 10/5/09
          Application FAQs Updated 10/20/09
          Funding FAQs Updated 10/9/09
          Award Administration FAQs Updated 10/5/09
          Information Exchange FAQs Added 11/12/09

e-Healthcare Marketing

Health Information Exchange, Electronic Health Records and Personal Health Records

Category Archives: States