Feds Release Health IT Strategic Plan

Abstract

Mary Ellen Schneider is with the New York bureau of Elsevier Global Medical News. If the feds have it their way, 40% of physician offices will be using certified electronic health records by 2012. The goal is part of a strategic plan for coordinating the federal government's health IT efforts over the next years, and seeks to further progress toward President Bush's goal, set out in 2004, that the majority of Americans to have access to an electronic health record (EHR) by 2014. About 14% of physicians had adopted some form of health information technology (IT) by 2007, according to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, which released the strategic plan. Specifically, the plan calls for removing business barriers and disincentives for adoption of EHRs and providing training and technical assistance. For example, the plan calls for increasing the health IT workforce by training more standards developers, ensuring vendors are trained in the implementation of health IT tools, and training physicians and other health care providers in informatics. It also highlights the need to address physician concerns about liability risks related to the exchange of electronic health information. In addition to issues related to adoption, the plan lays out goals for achieving patient-focused health care through electronic health record access, and enabling the use of electronic health data to benefit public health, research, and emergency preparedness. “[The plan] establishes the next generation of health IT milestones to harness the power of information technology to help transform health and care in this country,” Robert Kolodner, MD, national coordinator for health information technology, said in a statement. The goals are all positive, said Steven Waldren, MD, director of the Center for Health Information Technology at the American Academy of Family Physicians, but the plan doesn't place enough emphasis on the need to provide financial incentives to physicians for purchasing and using electronic health record systems, he said. “The real bottom line is getting the payment reform that is needed in health care today,” Dr. Waldren said. The strategic plan represents a “reasonable approach” going forward and gives a sense of how to achieve the President's objective of greater access to electronic health records, said Dan Rode, vice president of policy and government relations at the American Health Information Management Association. However, many of the items don't have specific timetables for completion but will instead be reassessed in 2010, he said, leaving a lot to be accomplished before 2014. The plan was developed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT in collaboration with 12 agencies within Health and Human Services, other departments, the National Committee on Vital Statistics, and the American Health Information Community. The strategic plan is available online at www.hhs.gov/healthit.