Blumenthal: Stimulus provides strong foundation for HIE

Until HHS officially publishes proposed regulations near the end of this year, Dr. David Blumenthal can't talk publicly yet about what "meaningful use" EMRs will look like, but the national coordinator for health information technology continues to discuss his vision for various components of federal health IT policy. His latest, communicated in an open letter released Thursday, is about health information exchange and what the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act--the health IT portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--says about the subject.

"A key premise: information should follow the patient, and artificial obstacles--technical, business related, bureaucratic--should not get in the way," Blumenthal writes. "Exchange within business groups will not be sufficient--the goal is to have information flow seamlessly and effortlessly to every nook and cranny of our health system, when and where it is needed, just like the blood within our arteries and veins meets our bodies' vital needs."

Blumenthal noted that the HITECH Act is specific about eliminating commercial, economic and technical barriers to health information exchange and that it provides "building blocks" for HIE across state lines, partly in the form of $564 million in grant money. He said that HHS will begin awarding grants this winter.

Blumenthal also promised another letter about strengthening privacy and security safeguards for personal health information. He is due to address the American Medical Informatics Association's annual symposium in San Francisco Monday afternoon. FierceHealthIT will be there to cover the speech.

For more:
- read Blumenthal's letter [1]
- take a look at this Government Health IT story [2]

Related Articles:
Biden, Sebelius, Blumenthal announce funding for EMR extension centers, HIE [3]
Study: Number of HIEs going online up about 40 percent since 2008 [4]
Blumenthal: Meaningful use must result in quality improvement, more time at bedside, less duplication [5]