HFMA – March 10, 2009.

A series of articles offers perspectives on health IT and the recently enacted economic stimulus package (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009).  Click title to read more…

David Brailer, the former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, shares lessons from health IT efforts in the Bush administration and offers guidance for the current administration. Although Congress’ move to allocate $19 billion for the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) is a step in the right direction, Brailer highlights problems that could present roadblocks to data exchange, increase costs, and reinforce resistance to patient-centered care.

John Halamka, chief information officer at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, offers five guiding principles for speeding adoption of EHRs that build on previous work and avoid misspending economic stimulus and recovery funds. Mark Frisse of Vanderbilt University writes that an opportunity will be missed if health IT simply automates a broken system. And Ticia Gerber of Manatt Health Solutions highlights the common threads in national and global health IT debates, including the need for strong stakeholder engagement, funding and donor coordination, and challenges for standards and interoperability.

The articles are available on the Health Affairs web site.