Healthcare IT News - August 2007 - (Page 6)

Healthcare IT News ■ August 2007 industry news www.HealthcareITNews.com Government launches standards Web site to help NHIN By DIaNa MaNos, Senior Editor – The federal government has launched a Web site to help vendors test their products for compliance with the standards needed for participation in the National Health Information Network. The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP), the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Office of the National waShINGtON Coordinator for Health Information Technology developed the site together. The site provides information about the NHIN initiatives, CCHIT, HITSP, the interoperability specifications, the standards referenced by the specifications, and the available test resources, HITSP announced. It will continue to evolve based on stakeholder input, said John Halamka, MD, chairman of HITSP, “This Web site enables all stakeholders to implement HITSP standards, understand the roadmap for data interoperability and leverage all the work that has been done to create unambiguous interoperability specifications for consumer empowerment, lab and biosurveillance,” Halamka said. HITSP is encouraging feedback on the site at hit-tst-team@nist.gov. HITSP was also to have an emergency responder EHR use case ready by late July. The panel planned to complete privacy and security constructs for all HITSP interoperability specifications published to date. HITSP has slated a public comment period from July 23 to Aug. 17 on several documents, including: ■ privacy and security constructs; ■ emergency responder electronic health record use cases; ■ requirement, design and standards selection documents for two new use cases; and ■ consumer access to clinical information and quality measurement. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: HItSP 0807 ● Research group ECRI to maintain Web sites for government agency – ECRI Institute, a not-for-profit organization that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, has received a new three-year contract to maintain two government Web-based initiatives. The sites are the National Guideline Clearinghouse for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, and the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse for evidence-based quality measures and measure sets. The sites provide physicians, nurses and other health professionals continuously updated information on clinical practice guidelines and healthcare quality measures. This information helps them make more informed healthcare decisions. The two related and linked resources will remain as separate Web sites for free public access. The new features will further increase access to guidelines and measures at the point of care, according to Jean Slutsky, AHRQ’s director for the Center for Outcomes and Evidence. ■ PLymOUth meetING, Pa More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: eCrI 0807 ● TrusTs Continued from page 5 public policy organizations, including the Progressive Policy Institute, Patient Safety Institute, Patient Privacy Rights, National Alliance of Hispanic Health and the Heritage Foundation. It has also won endorsement from Kansas City-based healthcare technology developer Cerner Corp. “Cerner supports this important legislation because it will provide patients with more choices, more convenience and more control over their healthcare,” said Lindsay Shannon, a spokesman for Cerner. “As one of the leading healthcare IT vendors, Cerner understands the important role HIT plays in helping improve the quality of care, improve effectiveness and efficiency, and reduce overall healthcare costs.” The legislation would give patients ownership of their electronic record and give them the opportunity to create multiple health entries so that, for example, their dermatologist does not see their mental health history, Moore said. Physician adoption is encouraged by allowing revenue generated from data transactions authorized by the patient to be shared with physicians and providers as non-taxable income for inputting data into the system, he said. Physicians can access patient records online using a secure password authorization. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: trUStS 0807 Offer subject to CDW’s standard terms and conditions of sale, available at CDW.com. ©2007 CDW Corporation ● 3830_cdw_HITN_sel_sp_8-1.indd 1 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=7507 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=7508 http://CDW.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=7505

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare IT News - August 2007

Contents AHIC Redux IT Saving Lives IT, Wal-Mart Style OR Workflow Counting on Quality PHR Position Tapping Talent Slimming Down E-Prescribing Claims Processing

Healthcare IT News - August 2007

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