Home > Related Links Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services AHRQ is the health services research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). AHRQ’s health services research examines how people get access to health care, how much care costs, and what happens to patients as a result of this care. The main goals of health services research are to identify the most effective ways to organize, manage, finance, and deliver high-quality care, reduce medical errors and improve patient safety. National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) http://www.nationalehealth.org January 8, 2009, the National eHealth Collaborative, formerly AHIC Successor, Inc., was officially launched. The National eHealth Collaborative is a public-private partnership dedicated to the creation of a secure, interoperable, nationwide health information network that will advance the American public’s interest in health and improve the quality, safety, efficiency and accessibility of healthcare. The Collaborative builds on the accomplishments of the American Health Information Community (AHIC), a federal advisory committee established in 2005, and AHIC Successor, Inc., founded in 2008 to transition AHIC’s accomplishments into a new non-profit membership organization, now known as the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC). NeHC will continue as the hub around which a broad community of stakeholders can build consensus around interoperability. Other federal efforts that will coordinate with NeHC include the Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) to establish standards, the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) to certify EHR products and their networks, and the National Health Information Network (NHIN) to establish demonstration projects The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) advances the informatics professions relating to health and disease. To this end it advances the use of health information technology in clinical care, personal health management, public health/population, and research with the ultimate objective of improving health. Also, AMIA links developers and users of health information technology, creating an environment which fosters advances that revolutionize health care. Membership is open to individuals, institutions, and corporations. AMIA has been active in the national discussion to further the development of HIEs. One such example is its recent work on a national framework for the secondary use of data. Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of health IT. Founded in 2004, and certifying electronic health records (EHRs) since 2006, the Commission established the first comprehensive, practical definition of what capabilities were needed in these systems. The Certification Commission was officially recognized by the Federal government as a certifying body. In February 2009, Congress acknowledged the value of certification in the language of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) aimed at stimulating the nation's economy. The law offers a multi-year series of incentive payments to providers and hospitals for the meaningful use of certified EHR technology. The total amount of payments has been projected by the Congressional Budget Office at $34 billion. http://www.connectingforhealth.orgConnecting for Health is a collaboration working to realize the full potential of information technology in health and health care, while protecting patient privacy and the security of personal health information. The collaboration is funded by the Markle Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Connecting for Health Common Framework: Resources for Implementing Private and Secure Health Information Exchange is on their website. These resources are publicly available information that includes suggested privacy policy guides and technical policy guides along with model contract language for user agreements, general disclaimers, insurance requirements, and enforcement requirements for HIEs. These guiding principles and tools have been highly influential in national thinking about HIEs. http://www.ehealthinitiative.org The eHealth Initiative (eHI) and the Foundation for eHealth Initiative are independent, non-profit affiliated organizations whose missions are to drive improvement in the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology. Its web site contains updated information on ARRA, its current survey on HIEs and many resources for HIEs and RHIOs including the Connecting Communities Toolkit. Composed of several modules, this toolkit shares information from community HIE initiatives. Modules include value and sustainability for HIEs, physician practice transformation, and information sharing relative to privacy and security. The complete toolkit is free with registration on the site. Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) http://www.ansi.org/standards_activities/standards_boards_panels/hisb/hitsp.aspx?menuid=3 The Panel’s objective is to achieve widely accepted and readily-implemented consensus-based standards that will enable and support widespread interoperability among healthcare information technology, especially as they would interact in a Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) for the United States. As such, HITSP is an essential component for establishing a national network of HIEs. The Panel was established under the sponsorship of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and operates with a neutral and inclusive governance model. The site contains the latest information on interoperability specifications. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) http://www.himss.org/ASP/index.asp The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. One of the many areas of focus of HIMSS is HIEs. It has a plethora of information on current trends, lessons learned, case studies, definitions, news, publications, working groups, and policy statements. iHealthBeat provides reports on technology’s impact on healthcare and a searchable data base of past articles on HIT and HIE. It is a service of the California Health Foundation. On the site, users can register to receive daily updates on HIT and HIE news. The
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices This site maintains a health division to assist governors in improving health services through information technology. Health Information Technology: for the Future of Health Care http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt Health IT.hhs.gov is the federal government's centralized web location for information regarding efforts in Health Information Technology (HIT). It is intended as a resource for citizens, healthcare consumers, health providers, and any organizations supporting healthcare and health IT, including federal agencies and others. Seamless access to federal health IT information and efforts is among the site's primary goals. Initially, HealthTI.hhs.gov is a product of the joint efforts of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). This site will eventually include content from other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as well as other federal agencies in health IT such as Department of Defense/Health Affairs (DoD/HA), and the Department of Veterans Affairs/Veterans Health Administration (VA/VHA). Visitors to the site can subscribe to receive updates. National Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) http://www.rti.org/page.cfm?nav=6&objectid=09E8D494-C491-42FC-BA13EAD1217245C0 RTI, in collaboration with the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices, formed the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC), consisting of a multidisciplinary team of experts in privacy and security law and in health care management as well as representatives from up to 40 state or territorial governments. Together, this team is implementing a process to address variations in organization-level business policies and state laws that affect privacy and security practices that may pose challenges to interoperable health information exchange. This effort has been funded by a contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to work with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) PHII’s mission is to advance public health practitioners’ ability to strategically manage and apply health information systems. With its focus on public health, PHII is an important organization for bringing public health into the HIT and HIE discussion along with health care delivery and other health care sectors. State
Alliance for E-Health To help states navigate the complexities of developing and using health information technology and health information exchange tools, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) created in 2006 the State Alliance for E-Health. The State Alliance is a consensus-based executive-level body of state elected and appointed officials, formed to address the unique role states can play in facilitating adoption of interoperable electronic HIE. It also is a forum through which stakeholders can work together to identify inter- and intrastate-based policies and best practices and explore related programmatic and legal issues. State
HIE Leadership Forum The State Health Information Exchange (HIE) Leadership Forum is a body of state leaders from across the country who have responsibilities as recipients of cooperative agreements under the Office of National Coordinator's State HIE Program. The Forum serves as a hub for information dissemination, technical assistance support and ongoing dialogue and shared learning across states. This web site is a place to find current information and updates and link to helpful resources, especially the State HIE Toolkit which contains resources on General Planning, Governance, Technical Infrastructure, National Health Information Network and Grants Management. The Toolkit is designed to support State HIE Leadership Forum participants - the State HIE Program applicants and recipients of cooperative agreements who are either HIT Coordinators or leaders of state designated entities- with practical "how to" guidance on developing and implementing plans for achieving statewide Interoperability that align with State HIE Program milestones. Strategies
for Tomorrow (SFT) This consulting company’s website contains a featured sector on e-health collaboration. It contains discussion of the latest trends in RHIOs and HIEs as well as useful resources, documents, and links.
Value-Driven Health Care, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hhs.gov/valuedriven/ As a result President Bush’s Executive Order in August 2006 to promote transparency in certain programs administered or sponsored by the federal government, HHS has issued a broader challenge to purchasers, states, and Medicaid agencies to implement the “four cornerstones of Value-Driven Health Care”. The four cornerstones include: 1) interoperable health information technology; 2) transparency of quality; 3) transparency of price; and 4) incentives for high-value health care. Guides have been released for purchasers, state employee benefits purchasers, and state Medicaid agencies. |
