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Department of Health and Human Services

Health & Human Services (HHS) -- HHS is guiding the development of standards for Health IT systems that will improve patient care and increase efficiency across the health care system. HHS, through several of its agencies, also provides funding to organizations engaged in building and testing Health IT systems, standards and projects.

  • American Health Information Community (AHIC) - The AHIC is a federal advisory body, chartered to make recommendations to the Secretary of HHS on how to accelerate the development and adoption of Health IT. The AHIC pursues breakthroughs that will produce tangible value to the health care consumer in the near-term, while building toward long-term goals for a broad and robust system.
  • Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) -The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology provides leadership for the development and implementation of a nationwide health IT infrastructure allowing secure and seamless exchange of data and records. The ONC advises the Secretary of HHS on health IT policies and initiatives, and coordinates the Department’s efforts to meet the President’s goal of making an electronic medical record available for most Americans by 2014.
  • Federal Health Architecture (FHA) - The Federal Health Architecture (FHA) was established as an eGov Line of Business in response to The President's Management Agenda calling for increased efficiency and effectiveness in government operations. The FHA is responsible for leveraging federal expertise in creating a federal framework that would be derived from a national health IT infrastructure, supporting federal activities in the development and adoption of health IT standards, and ensuring that federal agencies can seamlessly exchange health data between and among themselves, with state, local and tribal governments, and with private sector healthcare organizations.
  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) - AHRQ funds health information technology research and development with $166 million in grants and contracts. This money is awarded to programs across the country to support and stimulate investment in health IT, especially in rural and underserved areas. AHRQ also created the National Resource Center for Health Information Technology, which provides technical assistance and shares knowledge and findings that have the potential to transform every day clinical practice.
  • Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) - HRSA promotes the widespread availability and use of health information technology and telehealth to meet the needs of people who are uninsured, underserved and/or have special needs. HRSA provides technical assistance to health centers and other HRSA grantees in adopting model practices and technologies; promotes grantee health information technology advances and innovations as models; and ensures that HRSA health information technology policy and programs are coordinated with those of other U.S. Department of Health and Human Services components.
  • Indian Health Services (IHS) - The IHS provides care for nearly two million American Indians and Alaska Natives across the United States. For three decades, the IHS has been at the forefront of health IT utilization. The IHS captures clinical and public health data using the Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS). The RPMS Electronic Health Record (EHR) allows providers to manage all aspects of patient care electronically, starting before the patient is ever seen and continuing through follow-up care. The IHS continues to develop its electronic systems to provide greater service and convenience to all those in the system.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) - The NIH, through the Nation Library of Medicine (NLM), hosts an online medical database that provides up-to-date information to consumers and health care professionals. Called MedlinePlus, the database is free to use, provides extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and the latest health news.
  • Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) - CMS’s new Electronic Health Record (EHR) demonstration is designed to show that widespread adoption and use of interoperable EHRs will reduce medical errors and improve the quality of care for an estimated 3.6 million consumers. Over a five-year period, the project will provide financial incentives to as many as 1,200 physician practices that use certified EHRs to improve quality as measured by their performance on specific clinical quality measures. Additional bonus payments will be available, based on a standardized survey measuring the number of EHR functionalities a physician practice has incorporated. To further amplify the effect of this demonstration project, CMS is encouraging private and public payers to offer similar financial incentives consistent with applicable law.

Department of Defense

Department of Defense (DoD) - Currently, thousands of military medical providers use the DoD’s electronic health record system, AHLTA, and nearly 300,000 outpatient visits are captured digitally every week. DoD’s vision is to provide each patient with a continuously updated digital medical record from the point of injury or care on the battlefield to discharge from military clinics and hospitals in the United States. These records would be completely transferable electronically to the Veterans Health Administration as part of the Joint Patient Electronic Health Record (JPEHR).

Department of Veterans Affairs

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) - The VHA is a division of the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and provides care for over five million veterans of the United States Armed Services. The VHA’s electronic health record system, My HealtheVet, allows patients to refill prescriptions online, and provides access to health information, links to Federal and VA benefits and resources, and the patient’s Personal Health Journal. The VHA continues to add capabilities to My HealtheVet, to empower consumers to take a more active role in managing their health and health care.

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Upcoming Events

HL7 22nd Plenary and Working Group Meeting
Vancouver, B.C.
September 14 - 19, 2008
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AHIC September Meeting
Washington, DC
September 23, 2008
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Personal Experiences

"We have hospitals in Afghanistan and Iraq, and many of the soldiers would arrive without records in Germany, with no record of the CAT scans or what happened in surgery in Afghanistan or Iraq. The clinicians in Germany would have to re-operate on the patient, would have to redo all their x-ray evaluations, CAT scans, etc...." ~ Colonel John Holcomb

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