News Release

Secretary Leavitt Takes New Steps to Advance Health IT
National Collaboration and RFPs Will Pave the Way For Interoperability

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced the formation of a national collaboration and four requests for proposals (RFPs) that will advance efforts to reach President Bush�s call for most Americans to have electronic health records within ten years. The President�s vision would create a personal health record that patients, doctors and other health care providers could securely access through the Internet no matter where a patient is seeking medical care. Today�s announcement provides a way for patients, doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and employers to agree on standards for electronic health records and ways to achieve interoperability -- the ability to access this vital medical information immediately and efficiently.

"The national strategy for achieving interoperability of digital health information is for federal agencies -- who pay for more than one-third of all health care in the country -- to work with private-sector health care providers and employers in developing and adopting an architecture, standards and certification process," Secretary Leavitt said.

An electronic health record is a digital collection of a patient�s medical history and could include items like diagnosed medical conditions, prescribed medications, vital signs, immunizations, lab results, and personal characteristics like age and weight.

"The use of electronic health records and other information technology will transform our health care system by reducing medical errors, minimizing paperwork hassles, lowering costs and improving quality of care," Secretary Leavitt said. "We will bring together the public and private health care sectors to transform health care as we know it."

The cornerstone of this effort, a private-public collaboration called the American Health Information Community (AHIC), will help nationwide transition to electronic health records -- including common standards and interoperability -- in a smooth, market-led way. The AHIC, which will be formed under the auspices of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, will provide input and recommendations to HHS on how to make health records digital and interoperable, and assure that the privacy and security of those records are protected.

HHS will solicit nominations for people to serve on the AHIC and Secretary Leavitt will appoint up to 17 commission members, as well as serve as chairperson. The AHIC will be chartered for two years, with the option to renew and duration of no more than five years. The department intends for the AHIC to be succeeded within five years by a private-sector health information community initiative that, among other things, would set additional needed standards, certify new health information technology, and provide long-term governance for health care transformation.

HHS will also issue four RFPs to pave the way for interoperability. These RFPs will create processes for setting data standards, certification, and architecture for an Internet-based nationwide health information exchange, as well as assess patient privacy and security policies. In total, HHS will spend $86.5 million on health IT in FY 2005, and President Bush has requested $125 million for health IT in FY 2006.

"Once the market has structure, patients, providers, medical professionals and vendors will innovate, create efficiencies and improve care," Secretary Leavitt said.

The Institute of Medicine estimates that medical errors kill 45,000 to 98,000 Americans each year in hospitals. Technology can help reduce these medical mistakes by making health information more accessible to patients and providers. As important, the information needed to treat patients effectively will be a computer click away, no matter where the patient is receiving care, which will improve patient care and satisfaction. Moreover, health technology can reduce costs by saving time, reducing duplication and waste, and improving efficiency with the potential to reduce costs by as much as 10 percent. Consumers not only benefit by saving money and improved patient care, but also by saving time because they will not have to supply basic information over and over again, or be subjected to duplicative and unnecessary tests.

Secretary Leavitt noted that HHS will do its part by adopting standards and data-sharing processes for Internet-based applications that will help federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare support the use of digital and interoperable health records that are privacy-protected and secure.

AHIC will advise the department on how to accelerate the nationwide adoption of interoperable digital records, while striking the right balance between the public and private sectors. The AHIC will have five specific tasks:

1. Make recommendations on how to protect privacy and security.

2. Identify and make recommendations for prioritizing health information technology achievements that will provide immediate benefits to consumers of health care (e.g., drug safety, lab results, bio-terrorism surveillance, etc.).

3. Make recommendations regarding the creation of a private-sector, consensus-based, standard-setting and harmonization process, and a separate product certification process.

4. Make recommendations for a nationwide architecture that uses the Internet to share health information in a secure and timely manner.

5. Make recommendations on how the AHIC can be succeeded by a private-sector health information community initiative within five years. The sunset of the AHIC, after no more than five years, will be written into the charter.

"We've outlined a powerful vision for heath IT and the steps to achieve the President's goal," said Dr. David J. Brailer, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. "The actions announced today build on the evaluation and strategies that we have developed in collaboration with the broad community of healthcare leaders."

More information is available at www.hhs.gov/healthit.