News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343

American Health Information Community Approves First Set of Recommendations

The American Health Information Community (the Community) unanimously approved and delivered 28 recommendations yesterday to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt for his consideration. The Community made recommendations on how to make health records digital and interoperable while protecting patient privacy and the security of those records.

�I have identified nine priorities at HHS to focus my effort around, and health IT is at the heart of every one of them. The work we do in this group is vital, its need is urgent, and I am pleased by the steps taken by the Community to further these goals,� Secretary Leavitt said.

Secretary Leavitt led discussion of the recommendations, stressing the importance of the work being done by the Community, and emphasizing urgency in making progress on health IT. Among the recommendations, the Community advised that:

The Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) identify and define standards that will enable:
- secure messaging between patients and clinicians, such as secure e-mail to allow a patient to receive a doctor�s advice outside a traditional office visit;
- reporting results from laboratory testing, so lab results will travel with patients; and
- availability of electronic registration information to replace the medical clipboard.
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) incorporates HITSP standards as criteria for product certification on an ongoing basis, to ensure interoperability.
A subgroup be formed to frame privacy and security issues relevant to the work of the breakthroughs.

The Community also unanimously adopted all CCHIT criteria for certification of ambulatory electronic health records (EHRs). The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) entered into a $2.7 million contract with the CCHIT last year to develop and test criteria for certification of health IT, which began in April of 2006. The CCHIT will expand certification to inpatient EHRs in 2007.

Secretary Leavitt also welcomed Robert Cresanti, Under Secretary of Technology at the Department of Commerce, to the Community. Mr. Cresanti replaces Michelle O'Neill, who was the Acting Under Secretary.

For more information about the Community and its Workgroups, and to read their recommendation letters containing the complete recommendations, visit http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahic.html.

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Last revised: May 18, 2006

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