Members of the HIT Policy Committee wrestled with the fate of the Nationwide Health Information Network during their meeting on Wednesday.
Committee members said the NHIN, a federal interoperability initiative begun in 2004, must now align itself with the newer and more urgent timeline established in the HITECH part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed last February.
The HIT Policy Committee adopted the NHIN workgroup's recommendation for a "conceptual" framework for the NIHN and what the NHIN should expect from federal agencies. The members don't know how those recommendations will be turned into actions and deadlines.
David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health IT and chairman of the HIT Policy Committee, said the group will continue to expand its vision for the NHIN at upcoming meetings.
"The NHIN was developed before HITECH," he noted. "Is this sufficient, or should we be thinking more broadly?"
Blumenthal urged the committee to think of ways the government can promote meaningful use as part of the NHIN.
With providers who want to receive bonuses under ARRA expected to demonstrate meaningful use of healthcare IT by 2011, Blumenthal said of the NHIN: "If there are new investments we have to make, new aspirations we need to communicate, we have no time to lose."
The NHIN workgroup chairman, David Lansky, said the NHIN should enable the broadest range of providers to exchange information to achieve meaningful use and enable consumers to be able to access their health information. It should also provide access to states and other organizations that support providers.
The goals the committee approved for the future of the NHIN include:
- The federal government should focus on the minimum standards, policies and services needed for foundational exchange components to further meaningful use in the near-term.
- NHIN policies, standards and services should be structured so thatintermediaries can provide required services for private and secure routing of health information.
- The federal government should work with stakeholders to improve and leverage directories for the NHIN.
- The federal government should define a core set of policies for the interoperation of trusted directories.
- The NHIN should build upon existing federal standards, policies and practices for authentication and identity proofing.
Photo by chmerideth obtained via Creative Commons license.
