Health Care Blog

Pulling Forward the Benefits of Healthcare IT

Today, the Health IT Standards Committee within the Department of Health and Human Services will begin an unprecedented effort to get the public’s view on how our work might "pull forward" the benefits of healthcare information technology (IT).  Specifically, we’re interested in uncovering new strategies to accelerate the adoption of health IT standards.  This effort began with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, calling for recommendations on standards to promote safe, secure, healthcare information exchange.

“Standards” are really the guardians of quality, consistency, and interoperability.  Without thoughtful, clear and uniform standards, we cannot enable the seamless and secure exchange of electronic health information (or the benefits that accrue to providers and patients from such protected exchanges).

So, while the exploration of technical standards may seem mundane to some, it is foundational to electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic health information exchange more broadly.  In other words, it’s worth paying some attention to, and voicing your opinions.

Our process continues with a public hearing today in Washington, DC. Find out how to participate via phone and webcast here. We are convening four panels of experts with on-the-ground experience in interoperability standards - providers, quality stakeholders, health IT vendors, and a group with lessons drawn outside of healthcare. Thanks to HIT Standards Committee member Judy Murphy for her leadership on this effort.

The public hearing draws to a close this afternoon but we will continue the conversation through an Online Forum over the next two weeks.  Thanks to Committee Member Cris Ross for his leadership on this effort.  Given the breadth of interests, we have arranged a series of Committee Member blog posts to begin the dialogue, starting with HIT Standards Committee Vice-Chair John Halamka's summary of our work to date, which will post on Friday.  We will concurrently enable ongoing discussion threads on the following topics:

1. Proposed Standards (General Discussion)
2. Interoperability
3. Vocabularies
4. Privacy
5. Security
6. Quality
7. Implementation Case Studies (Your Story - the good, bad and
   in-between)

We have also enabled a "voting" feature on submissions to allow you - the public - an opportunity to emphasize points raised in a given post. Our goal is to harness the shared wisdom of our community to inform the work of the HIT Standards Committee in the weeks and months ahead.

The tight schedule of this process is designed to ensure that your ideas inform the HIT Standards Committee at its November 19th meeting.  However, your ongoing feedback on our efforts is also encouraged via written submission or public comment at any of the subsequent monthly meetings of the HIT Standards Committee.

The process of accelerating the adoption of health IT standards will not end this week, this month, or this year. This is an ongoing effort, and your participation will continue to be essential to its success.

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer

First Lady Michelle Obama Highlights Breast Cancer Awareness

Friday afternoon in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, First Lady Michelle Obama donned pink to honor the millions of women and families affected by breast cancer. Speaking to a crowd of survivors, lawmakers, and doctors, the First Lady highlighted the importance of adequate health coverage for those facing the disease. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and these women deserve to battle their disease without the worry of their insurance companies letting them down:

And this is a disease, as we know, that affects not just those diagnosed with it, and not just those who've survived it and those who've lost their lives to it, but it is a disease that also affects those who love and know them -- which these days seems like almost every single person in this country. 

That's why it is so critically important that we finally reform our health care system that is causing so much heartache for so many people affected by this disease.  Now is the time. 

Fortunately, that's exactly what the plans being considered by Congress right now would do.  

So just to be clear, under these plans, if you already have insurance that works for you, then you're all set.  You can keep your insurance and you can keep your doctors. 

The plans put in place some basic rules of the road to protect you from abuses and unfair practices by insurance companies.  That would mean no more denying coverage to people like women we heard from today because of so-called preexisting conditions like having survived cancer.  (Applause.)  Because there's a belief that if you've already fought cancer, you shouldn't have to also fight with insurance companies to get the coverage that you need at a price that you can afford.  (Applause.)  

These plans mean insurance companies will no longer be allowed to cap the amount of coverage that you can get, and will limit how much insurance companies can charge you for out-of-pocket expenses, because in this country, getting sick shouldn't mean going bankrupt.  (Applause.)    

And finally, these plans will require insurance companies to cover basic preventative care -- from routine checkups, to mammograms, to pap smears -- at no extra charge to you.  And though I want to emphasize that in the end, as we all know, it's our responsibility as women to also talk to our doctors about what screenings that we need and then make the appointments to get those screenings, even when it's inconvenient or maybe a little bit uncomfortable.  It's something that we owe not just to ourselves but to the people that love us.  

(First Lady Michelle Obama talks with a participant following a Breast Cancer Awareness Month event in the East Garden of the White House, Oct. 23, 2009. Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton) (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)