Medicare/Medicaid health data sharing network proposed

In a recent letter to Congress, a group of health policy experts urged the creation of a network to share information on Medicare and Medicaid patients to improve treatment received. In particular, Lynn Etheredge--one of the signers of the letter--wants information to be shared on "dual eligibles"--low income, elderly patients who receive money for care from both Medicare and Medicaid. According to Etheredge, there are 7 million dual eligibles in the U.S., which represents 40 percent of Medicaid spending and 25 percent of Medicare spending. 

Etheredge and the others agree that a network backed by government policy would hasten treatments for everyone. "[Researchers] spend way too much time simply acquiring data," he said. 

Others who signed the letter include Kenneth Kizer, who created the health-records system for the Department of Veteran Affairs; Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis; Nationally Quality Forum President and CEO Janet Corrigan and National Committee for Quality Assurance President Margaret O'Kane. 

For more on the proposed network:
- here's the Government HealthIT article

Related Article:
Medicaid programs work on shared EMRs

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