[IEEE-bhpjobs] [Fwd: HHS Enters Into Agreements To Support Digital Health Recovery for the Gulf Coast]

[esther L]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: HHS Enters Into Agreements To Support Digital Health Recovery 
for the Gulf Coast
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 11:57:36 -0500
From: Amanda Smith <amanda.smith at HHS.GOV>
Reply-To: Amanda Smith <amanda.smith at HHS.GOV>
To: HEALTH-IT at LIST.NIH.GOV

HHS ENTERS INTO AGREEMENTS TO SUPPORT DIGITAL
HEALTH RECOVERY FOR THE GULF COAST

Partnerships will Accelerate Electronic Health Records in Gulf States

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced that the department has entered 
into two agreements today with organizations that will plan and promote 
the widespread use of electronic health records in the Gulf Coast 
regions affected by recent hurricanes.

Hurricane Katrina destroyed a large number of paper medical records
maintained by physicians, hospitals, nursing homes and other health care
facilities in the Gulf Coast region.  Providers and payers using 
electronic medical records, however, were largely able to preserve their 
systems and patient information, despite the devastation.

“Recent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast exposed up-close the real
vulnerabilities of the American health care system - system based upon
paper which in an instant was destroyed,” Secretary Leavitt said.   “The
effect of these hurricanes has been to demonstrate the real need for 
health records that are both electronic and interoperable.

As physicians, hospitals and other facilities return to operation, they
will have to rebuild medical records for their patients.  The agreements
announced today will establish a task force of local and national 
experts to help area providers turn to electronic medical records as 
they rebuild.  This task force will help to implement, support and 
disseminate state-of-the-art information technology that will contribute 
to an infrastructure that supports interoperable healthcare data 
exchange. The agreements are with:

-The Southern Governors’ Association, to host the Gulf Coast Health
Information Task Force, which will bring together local and national
resources and coordinate the planning for a digital health information
recovery.

-The State of Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, to develop a
prototype of health information sharing and electronic health record 
(EHR) support that can be replicated throughout the region.

“The initiatives announced today align with national efforts to advance 
the use of electronic health records and accelerate secure sharing of 
health information among providers,” said National Coordinator for 
Health Information Technology, Dr. David Brailer.  “Making patient data 
accessible to authorized physicians, whether it is following a hurricane 
or as part of routine care, remains a challenge that must be addressed.”

The agreements announced today complement recently announced efforts in 
the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology pertaining to certification of electronic health records, 
development of interoperability standards, design of a national-scale 
data sharing architecture and an effort designed to address existing 
variations among privacy and security requirements across the country.

More information about HHS health information technology activities is 
at http://www.hhs.gov/healthit.




-- 
-- Esther L.,  esther-L at mailsnare.net or esther-L at alumni.virginia.edu
Speaking only for myself.


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