HHS recently released a report summarizing responses from the private sector on how to move the country closer to the creation of a nationwide health information network.
The report, Summary of Nationwide Health information Network Request for Information Responses,(PDF file: 80 pages / 637 KB. More about PDFs.) is a compilation of comments gleaned from nearly 5,000 pages of information submitted by private industry, health care entities and individuals after HHS put forth a formal request for information. The RFI specifically asked for comments on how an information network could be governed, financed, operated and supported.
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Brailer, M.D., Ph.D., praised the effort.
"The responses from the RFI yielded one of the richest and most descriptive collections of thoughts on interoperability and health information exchange that has likely ever been assembled in the U.S.," he said in an HHS news release.
Some concepts, including these, had significant support from responders:
- A nationwide health information network should reflect the interests of all stakeholders and be a joint public/private effort.
- A nationwide network should be patient-centric and built with safeguards to protect patient privacy.
Cooperation between the public and private sectors is essential. - A nationwide network should evolve incrementally and should include incentives, coordination and accountability.
- The federal government must play a role in advancing a nationwide health information network.
"These ideas provide invaluable 'first specs' for a plan that will transform health care in American," said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt.
