Next to David Blumenthal, MD, head of the Office of the National Coordinator, John Halamka, MD, is arguably the most influential mover and shaker in health IT in the U.S. today.
Halamka is chief information officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, CIO at Harvard Medical School, chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network and a practicing emergency physician. His position as co-chair of the HIT Standards Committee, however, puts him at the heart of federal policy.
In his closing keynote, “Meaningful Use: Current and Future Standards,” Thursday at 1:30-2:30 PM CST, Halamka will address the standards and challenges of Stage 1 Meaningful Use criteria for electronic health records and Stages 2 and 3 planning, which is already in progress.
“I’ll be offering an insider’s view of the standards for Stage 1 of Meaningful Use and my predictions for the functionality and standards needed for Stage 2 and 3,” he said.
In addition, Halamka will discuss NHIN Direct, emerging commercial approaches to data transport and the latest state HIE efforts. “Finally, I'll describe the Massachusetts approach to connecting every provider in the state with the services they need to achieve meaningful use,” Halamka said.
