eHealth Initiative Submits Comments to ONC on HIT Regional Extension Centers
Washington D.C. – June 11, 2009 – The eHealth Initiative, after reviewing the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) May 28, 2009 Health Information Technology Extension Program Notice and Request for Comments, submitted a letter on June 11th acknowledgin the importance of the Extension Program, and offering comments and raising questions on the Program's Regional Extension Centers.
"Providing HIT adoption and workflow support to clinicians and hospitals, while developing and sharing best practices, will be key determinants of long-term success or failure in modernizing and transforming health care through health information technology (HIT)," wrote Jennifer Covich Bordenick, eHI Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer.
In May 2009, eHI conducted a national survey of health IT stakeholders which focused specifically on gathering opinions on the design and services to be offered by RECs. In order for the RECs to be successful, eHI heard in consulting with its membership, they need to be designed with local needs in mind and focus on providing implementation and technical assistance to clinicians.
A copy of eHI's letter to the ONC can be downloaded online.
eHealth Initiative Sends Letter to Congress on Intersection of Health IT and Health Reform
Washington D.C. – June 9, 2009 – The eHealth Initiative and 21 significant health care stakeholder organizations presented Members of Congress with a letter on June 9th that expressed the co-signers' strong desire in seeing health information technology, particularly the recent provisions of the HITECH Act included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, integrated into any health reform legislation that is enacted by Congress in 2009.
Congress’ support for reform policies that holistically incorporate health IT and the provisions of the HITECH Act will lay the foundation for a higher quality, safer, more accessible, and more efficient health care system. But if the adoption and meaningful use of health IT is viewed as a separate endeavor from health reform, the likelihood will only increase that the money spent to encourage health IT adoption and information exchange will be squandered due to our failure to leverage the capacity of electronic health information and tools to enable and accelerate health reform that is built on the foundation of health information.
The eHealth Initiative and the co-signing organizations stand ready to work with Congress to further address specific areas where health reform legislation can integrate health IT and the provisions of the HITECH Act to foster the widespread use and exchange of electronic health information.
A copy of the letter shared with Congress can be downloaded online.
eHealth Initiative Survey Finds Consensus Among HIT Stakeholders on Plans for Regional Extension Centers
Washington D.C. – May 28, 2009 – Health information technology regional extension centers should be designed with local needs in mind and focus on providing implementation and technical assistance to clinicians, according to a new survey released by the eHealth Initiative.
The eHealth Initiative survey of its 165 member organizations and 260 health information exchange organizations was conducted just prior to the release by the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology of guidance on the role of regional extension centers in helping physicians and hospitals transition to an electronic health record system.
"We’re entering a critical phase where decisions are being made about implementing the health IT provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” said Jennifer Covich Bordenick, Chief Operating Officer and Interim CEO of the eHealth Initiative. “Regional extension centers will play an integral role in ensuring the success of the Obama Administration’s goal of national health IT adoption by 2014 and it’s important that they help providers rethink their workflow and assist in actually implementing these systems.”
Download eHealth Initiative Summary of the ONC Guidance.
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eHI Launches 2009 Sixth Annual Survey on Health Information Exchange
Washington, D.C. - May 18, 2009 - The eHealth Initiative is pleased to announce the release of the 2009 Sixth Annual Survey on Health Information Exchange, to be completed by all organizations that exchange or are preparing to exchange health information in the United States.
Thanks to feedback from members and previous respondents, this year's survey has been significantly improved to reduce the time and effort required to complete the survey, while preserving the key components necessary to accurately assess the state of the health information exchange field and the great impact health information exchange is having on the nation's health care delivery system.
Launched on May 18th, the online survey may be completed until Wednesday, June 8th, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. ET. As an incentive for taking the time and effort to help eHI compile this data, any respondent that fills out the survey in its entirety will receive a $10 Starbucks Gift Card. Survey respondents will also receive a 25% discount off registration for eHI's 2009 Annual Conference. Click here to access the survey.
If you have any questions please contact Brett Andriesen at brett.andriesen@ehealthinitiative.org
TAKE THE SURVEY>>
eHealth Initiative Visits the White House
Washington, D.C. – April 9, 2009 – On April 8, 2009, Jennifer Covich Bordenick, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the eHealth Initiative, joined a small group of prominent health care, business, and consumer representatives at the White House for a Discussion on Health Care Reform with Nancy-Ann DeParle, the White House Director of the Office of Health Reform. The two-hour meeting was broadcast on CSpan.org and HealthReform.gov; an archived feed is currently available on C-SPAN's website. The conversation came on the heels of the White House's fifth and final regional health care forum, hosted in Los Angeles, CA on April 6th.
Covich Bordenick was given the opportunity to make the last statement by DeParle, and she told the 30 attendees that a lot of progress has been made on health IT over the last eight years, and that eHI and its members greatly appreciate the White House's continuing support for health IT. She noted that now that the stimulus legislation has been passed, "the devil is in the details," a statement that DeParle echoed in her closing remarks.
Covich Bordenick also took the opportunity to highlight the great opportunities that exist for expanded consumer engagement in health care through the application of health IT, and lauded the "pockets" across the country that are now benefiting from the existence of operational health informational exchanges.
The meeting was also attended by Neera Tanden, Counselor for Health Reform at the Department of Health and Human Services and Dr. Robert Kocher, a staff member for the National Economic Council.
For more on the meeting, read Modern Healthcare’s account of the gathering on the publication’s website.
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eHealth Initiative Applauds Appointment of David Blumenthal as New National Coordinator for Health IT
WASHINGTON, D.C. - MARCH 23, 2009 - The independent, non-profit, multi-stakeholder eHealth Initiative applauds the appointment of David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, as the new National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within the Department of Health and Human Services. One of the key responsibilities of the National Coordinator will be to lead the implementation of a nationwide, interoperable, privacy-protected health information technology infrastructure as called for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which President Obama signed into law last month, providing a net investment of more than $19 billion in health IT.
