Health Information Technology Project Mission: The mission of the Health Information Technology project is to drive adoption of health information technology to help create a Nationwide Health Information Network, a secure, interoperable system where all stakeholders electronically exchange individual health and healthcare information.

David Merritt Project Director

Project Goals

• Drive adoption of electronic health records and other information technologies
• Reach consensus and convergence on open data standards for interoperability
• Facilitate research of de-identified healthcare data for new treatments, health management, and trends
• Engage consumers on using personal health records in their health and healthcare management

1. Transform the provider reimbursement system to reward quality outcomes. By focusing on outcomes we will incentivize providers to purchase the tools that will help them achieve better outcomes, and health information technology is one of the best tools available.
2. Create a clear, concise, and useable legislative exemption and safe harbor to Stark and Anti-kickback statutes. This will allow hospitals, health systems, and other entities can choose to provide community physicians with health information technology, particularly electronic health records.
3. Develop, deploy, and implement electronic health records and other health information technologies in hospitals, physician offices, long-term care facilities, and others settings. For more information on this topic, please click here. Vendors should also continue to develop innovative products and enhancements to existing EHR products to improve functionality and research capabilities.
4. Develop open data standards for interoperability.
5. Support local and regional connectivity efforts.
6. Modernize the Congressional Budget Office to ensure accurate scoring and encourage transformational legislation. The current scoring model at CBO is a significant barrier to meaningful legislation, such as health information technology and expanding coverage to the uninsured, because current models explain how much a bill would cost the federal government but do not explain how it may be an investment by the federal government.
7. Build a nationwide health information network akin to President Eisenhower’s bold initiative in the 1950s to create the national interstate highway system. For more information on this topic, please click here.
8. Reform state statutes and regulations to expedite health IT adoption, including licensure, e-prescribing, security, and privacy provisions.
9. Transform Medicare into a driver of innovation through the introduction of Medicare Personal Health Records and fundamentally reforming the current provider reimbursement model. Pass a federal law giving individuals ownership of their health records.
10. Pass a law to preserve the confidentiality and security of electronic health records by making the unauthorized access of medical records a felony with sever penalties, including slander if published or posted online.
11. Engage employers to offer personal health records to their employees by combining consumer portals with incentive programs for wellness and health.