Wednesday, September 24, 2008

NHIN Development

The nascent National Health Information Network was demonstrated yesterday at one of the final meetings of the American Health Information Community. Healthcare IT News reports that

The demonstrator, a cooperative of 19 groups that includes communities, federal agencies and healthcare providers from across the country, showed how the first approved use cases could work to help save lives and give doctors more information to make better medical decisions.

The data used in Tuesday's demonstration was based on fictitious patients; ONC officials said they plan to launch a live public demonstration with real patient data in December.

Also at this meeting, the Board of Directors of AHIC's public-private replacement, aptly named AHIC Successor, Inc. was announced. According to an HHS press release, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt remarked that

“This is a key milestone for the health IT movement. It will ensure that the critical work of the AHIC can be effectively leveraged so that interoperable health IT becomes a reality and that the benefits of health IT reach all Americans. I enthusiastically support the new board and look forward to working in partnership with AHIC Successor to move the nation toward an effective, nationwide health information system.”

To demonstrate the commitment of the federal government to the new organization, Secretary Leavitt and Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake will serve as federal liaisons to the board. The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Dr. Rob Kolodner, will continue to coordinate federal input into the public-private process.

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