Health Information Technology - join the train!

"Dear fellow students & faculty,

With major changes in healthcare underway--in particular, the arrival of the era of implementing Health Information Technology (HIT)/Electronic Health Records (EHR) as a tool to make our healthcare coordination and delivery more effective--there is a new frontier for all of us to learn, and much for us to discuss as well.  As I came across an exciting opportunity (email below) on Thursday to hear from and discuss these issues with our country's National Coordinator for HIT, I thought it would be of interest to many here as well so I am passing the invitation along to the larger Downstate medical community. 

 

For those interested, there are also many readily available resources--compiled on DownstateCafe.blogspot.com--which are great introductions to the topic of HIT/EHR.  Among them are

• Link to the website for the Department of Health's Office for the National Coordinator for HIT - great background on HIT, events, blogs, etc.: healthit.hhs.gov/
• Links to videos & materials from the Institute for Family Health, which has been a pioneer in meaningful & effective use of HIT in New York City for the past decade - the link includes a video of the Introductory remarks to this year's "HIT Workshop," given by Dr. Neil Calman: http://institute2000.org/HIT/information%20technology.html
• Forums at DownstateCafe.blogspot.com where anyone can share in discussion/thoughts/ideas/experiences regarding our own electronic health records (at Kings County, and *hopefully* sometime soon at Downstate UHB as well...)

If anyone has any other good resources to share, please email me, or post them under "Comments" at DownstateCafe.blogspot.com.

Best Regards,
Abe"

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"The head of National Health IT takes questions from doctors"

"...We've been getting lots of questions about reforms related to Health Information Technology (HIT).  Many of our colleagues want to know what the national strategy is and how it's taking into account the concerns of physicians and patients.
To answer these questions, we've asked Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (and a primary care physician) to join physicians and medical students for a conference call on Thursday, November 18th at 8pm EDT/5pm PDT.
Please join us for a call with Dr. Blumenthal on Thursday, November 18 at 8pm EST.  
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have many provisions supporting Health Information Technology (HIT).  We know that many of our colleagues want to move to a more modern system but many are concerned about the expense and difficulty of doing so.
Dr. Blumenthal is spearheading the HIT effort and he will share his perspective on:

• The role of HIT in promoting high-quality, cost-effective care.
• Provisions supporting HIT in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and in health reform.
• "Meaningful use" and HIT incentive payments.
• The timeline of HIT implementation moving forward.
• The role of physicians in developing the national HIT strategy.

...Sign me up for the call with Dr. Blumenthal on Thursday 11/18/10 at 8pm EST.

Thank you for your continued support.

Alice Chen, MD,
Doctors for America
P.S.  Come participate in our online discussion where you can share your ideas, thoughts, stories, and experiences on health IT.  Visit the Health IT Discussion Board."

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