A Consensus Action Agenda for Achieving the National Health Information Infrastructure
- William A Yasnoff,
- Betsy L Humphreys,
- J Marc Overhage,
- Don E Detmer,
- Patricia Flatley Brennan,
- Richard W Morris,
- Blackford Middleton,
- David W Bates,
- John P Fanning
- Affiliations of the authors: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC (WAY, JPF); National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (BLH); Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN (JMO); University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England (DED); University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI (PFB); National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (RWM); Partners HealthCare, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (BM, DWB)USA
- Correspondence and reprints: William A. Yasnoff, MD, PhD, National Health Information Infrastructure, Department of Health & Human Services, Room 440D, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201; e-mail: <william.yasnoff{at}hhs.gov>
- Received 11 May 2004
- Accepted 22 May 2004
Abstract
Background Improving the safety, quality, and efficiency of health care will require immediate and ubiquitous access to complete patient information and decision support provided through a National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII).
Methods To help define the action steps needed to achieve an NHII, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sponsored a national consensus conference in July 2003.
Results Attendees favored a public–private coordination group to guide NHII activities, provide education, share resources, and monitor relevant metrics to mark progress. They identified financial incentives, health information standards, and overcoming a few important legal obstacles as key NHII enablers. Community and regional implementation projects, including consumer access to a personal health record, were seen as necessary to demonstrate comprehensive functional systems that can serve as models for the entire nation. Finally, the participants identified the need for increased funding for research on the impact of health information technology on patient safety and quality of care. Individuals, organizations, and federal agencies are using these consensus recommendations to guide NHII efforts.
Footnotes
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The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily represent those of any U.S. government agency but rather reflect the consensus of the participants in the meeting.
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Additional contributors are listed at the end of this article.
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Additional contributors to the development of the recommendations: Facilitators: Nicholas Augustinos, MBA, Vivian A. Auld, MLIS, Nick Beard, MD, MSc, Suzanne Bakken, RN, PhD, Lynn Barrow, RN, MBA, William S. Bernstein, JD, MA, Meryl Bloomrosen, MBA, David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, William R. Braithwaite, MD, PhD, Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, Gary A. Christopherson, Henry Chueh, MD, MS, Christopher G. Chute, MD, DrPH, James J. Cimino, MD, Simon P. Cohn, MD, MPH, Ted Cooper, MD, Janet M. Corrigan, PhD, Molly J. Coye, MD, MPH, Arthur J. Davidson, MD, MSPH, Mary Jo Deering, PhD, Jonathan Einbinder, MD, MPH, Robert J. Esterhay, MD, Lynn Etheredge, Daniel J. Friedman, PhD, Kenneth W. Goodman, PhD, Jane Bortnick Griffith, MA, Elin Gursky, ScD, John Halamka, MD, Mark Helfand, MD, MPH, James G. Hodge, Jr., JD, LLM, Gail Horlick, MSW, JD, Stanley M. Huff, MD, Carol G. Jenkins, MLS, Rita Kukafka, DrPH, MS, Bettijoyce Lide, MS, Bill Lober, MD, Michael McRobbie, PhD, Naomi Miller, MLS, Donald Will Moran, Shawn Murphy, MD, PhD, Col. Rosemary Nelson, MSN, MA (ret.), Jayne Yerka Orthwein, MS, Eduardo Ortiz, MD, MPH, Judy G. Ozbolt, PhD, RN, Margaret Parker, RN, Amy Patterson, MD, Gregory Pawlson, MD, MPH, Martha Radford, MD, Laurence Raine, DrPH, MPH, MS, Dan Rode, MBA, Mary E. Ropka, PhD, RN, Charles J. Rothwell, MS, MBA, Charles Safran, MD, Gordon Schiff, MD, Joseph Siemienczuk, MD, Dean Sittig, PhD, Marjorie A. Speers, PhD, Richard Spivack, PhD, Steven J. Steindel, PhD, Paul Tang, MD, Mark S. Tuttle, MS, Jonathan S. Wald, MD, PhD, Col. Stephen M. Wolfe, MEd, MBA, DBA, and Scott Young, MD. Invited Experts: Jared A. Adair, Stuart H. Altman, PhD, Michael S. Ascher, MD, E. Andrew Balas, MD, PhD, Jeffrey S. Blair, MBA, David Brailer, MD, PhD, Susan M. Christensen, Sarah T. Corley, MD, Richard Croteau, MD, Eric Dishman, P. L. Estacio, PhD, MD, MPH, J. Michael Fitzmaurice, PhD, Mark Frisse, MD, MS, MBA, Barbara Fuller, JD, Robert Gellman, JD, Marjorie S. Greenberg, MA, David H. Gustafson, PhD, Patricia Hale, PhD, MD, W. Edward Hammond, PhD, Charles (Chip) N. Kahn III, MPH, Vik Kheterpal, MD, Laura Latimer, MBA, Martin LaVenture, MPH, Randy Levin, MD, Bill Lober, MD, John R. Lumpkin, MD, MPH, William H. Lyerly, Jr., MT(ASCP), MA, MPH, PhD, Colin Mackenzie, MD, Janet Marchibroda, Clement J. McDonald, MD, Perry Miller, MD, PhD, Michael Murray, PharmD, MPH, Patrick W. O'Carroll, MD, MPH, Pete Palmer, LTC Julie Pavlin, MD, MPH, Ginette Pepper, PhD, RN, Sue Prophet-Bowman, Helga Rippen MD, PhD, MPH, Jeffrey W. Rose, Stephen J. Rosenfeld, MD, MBA, Daniel Z. Sands, MD, MPH, Richard Schiffman, MD, MCIS, Dan Soule, Kent A. Spackman, MD, PhD, William W. Stead, MD, Annette Williams, MLS, Pat Wise, and Nancy Wong. Thanks also to Dominica Roth for her exceptional organizational efforts in support of the conference and Kathleen Fyffe for assistance in developing some initial summaries of the track recommendations.
