On July 21, 2004, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced a 10-year plan to transform the delivery of health care by building a new health information infrastructure, including electronic health records and a new network to link health records nationwide.
The framework builds in part on a $60 million health information technology (HIT) program at AHRQ, including $50 million in Fiscal Year 2004 for grants and contracts to support the development, adoption, and evaluation of HIT in a variety of health care settings, especially rural and underserved communities. An additional $10 million will be invested by AHRQ in partnership with HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation for the development and adoption of HIT standards.
Secretary Thompson also announced a number of new action steps to help advance health information technology.
Select www.hhs.gov/onchit/framework/ to access this new framework, as well as a fact sheet and press release.
Current as of July 2004
Internet Citation:
Secretary Announces New Health Information Technology Strategic Framework. July 2004. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/about/hitframe.htm
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