HIMSS and AAFP Join Forces to Demonstrate Benefits of the Electronic Health Record

CHICAGO – The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) are collaborating on a six-month demonstration project studying the implementation of an open ASP (application service provider) electronic health record (EHR) in six to 10 small family physician practices across the United States. The open ASP system manages and delivers information to multiple users, such as the family practice offices in the demonstration, from a remote location across a wide network area. The actual demonstration will begin no later than November 1, 2003.

“We are pleased to join with the American Academy of Family Physicians in this demonstration,” said H. Stephen Lieber, president and CEO of HIMSS. “The project is a natural progression of our electronic health record initiative because it will help educate the industry and our members on how best to meet the needs of the family practice medical community.”

HIMSS has taken a leadership role within the healthcare industry working toward the adoption of a universal EHR with its members, government and the private sector. In its affiliation with the AAFP, HIMSS will serve as EHR content experts and as a liaison with the corporate community for the Academy’s members.

The AAFP is dedicated to identifying practical solutions to address America's health care system's shortcomings. In working with its membership, the Academy has identified the need to address implementation of EHR systems in the offices of member physicians.

“Collaboration of this kind between physician specialty organizations and the healthcare IT industry is very important if we are to meet the needs of small- and medium-sized medical practices for low-cost, standards-based, and increasingly connected electronic health records,” said David C. Kibbe, MD, the project’s principal investigator and director, Health Information Technology for AAFP. “HIMSS has a solid track record as a unifying force within health care, and we are very pleased to have their help in this small but ground-breaking study.”

The collaboration between the two organizations focuses on eliminating the obstacles that can prevent the adoption of the EHR in a medical practice setting.
HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) provides leadership in healthcare for the advancement and management of information technology and management systems. Visit www.himss.org for more information. HIMSS. The Source for Healthcare Information.