January 14, 2004
Proposed National Information Technology Infrastructure
This week, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) proposed legislation that would create a national information technology infrastructure. Such a system would modernize the sharing of medical information nationwide and allow health providers to share electronic health records, research, prescriptions and other information.
The new legislation would also provide research on the quality and effectiveness of care, and provide the public with a standardized reporting system that would allow patients to compare performance on hospitals and other providers.
The goal is to use technology to help coordinate and integrate our healthcare system. By establishing voluntary "interoperability standards", this will ensure that different hospital and physician systems can talk to each other, exchange electronic health records, and reduce paperwork. Another important aspect of the legislation is to give providers the latest research, clinical guidelines, reminders, and information, right at their fingertips through hand-held computers and other tools, and giving patients access to their health record as well as personal health tools to involve them more in their own health care.
"Americans need a new, modern, 21st-century version of health care delivery, based on the premise of information in the hands of the right people at the right time," Sen. Clinton said.
Related Information
Description of the proposed legislation
National Health Information Infrastructure Act of 2003 introduced last year
Recent AATP Weblog posting about the Online Health Record in Canada
Posted by rsk at January 14, 2004 11:08 AM