Overview

Health care has yet to be transformed by the information technology revolution that has swept the U.S. economy. Health information technology (IT) is the use of technology to electronically collect, store, retrieve and transfer clinical, administrative and financial health information. It offers the chance to improve quality and reduce costs in health care.    

States have a vital role to play as the health sector transforms from a paper to an electronic system. States influence health IT, as they do health care more generally, in a number of ways—as purchasers, regulators, providers and planners, and through supporting infrastructure, innovation and workforce development. States vary in the extent to which they tend to pick regulatory or market-oriented approaches to influence their health systems, and these policy preferences carry through in their choices related to health IT policy.

States will need to provide leadership around a wide range of issues as they work on health IT. 

• Privacy and Security. Many consumers fear that the transformation from a paper to an electronic system will make their medical histories more vulnerable to unauthorized exposure. They fear that if these data fall into the hands of unauthorized parties, they’ll face workplace discrimination and a loss of insurance. Providers want access to patients’ full medical records and are concerned about liability for misuse of data.
• Health Information Exchange. Making different technology systems able to work together, both within and across providers—interoperability—is vital to realizing the promise of health IT. States will need to ensure that systems used by providers are interoperable and stakeholders (consumers, payers, providers) will have to be engaged to build trust among groups that are not used to working together. For example, health organizations are often reluctant to share their data with competitors, fearing a competitive disadvantage.
• Health IT adoption issues.  Providers are often expected to purchase health IT systems but may hesitate because cost savings are likely to accrue mainly to insurers, government and employers.  States may have to step in to deal with these misaligned incentives.

To help states facilitate the transformation from paper to the digital age, NCSL established the Health Information Technology Champions (HITCh) project in 2006. HITCh is creating a base for continuing policy analyses in this rapidly evolving area by developing a core of legislative expertise related to health IT policy across states and at NCSL.

HITCh serves as the foundation for all of NCSL’s activities around health IT. The project holds meetings and webinars throughout the year focusing on topics chosen by HITCh members and partners. NCSL project staff for HITCh respond to legislative information requests, track legislation, facilitate exchanges among states, create issue briefs and prepare items for publication in State Health Notes and State Legislatures magazine.