Dear HITCh Members,
June 13, 2008
This e-news update includes the following:
Senator Judy Lee of North Dakota has just been appointed a co-chair of Project HITCh. Welcome Senator Lee! We look forward to working with her as Project HITCh moves forward. Senator Lee joins our great leadership team of Senator Richard Moore of Massachusetts and Joe Flores of Virginia.
The June issue of State Legislatures Magazine includes two great pieces we did on health IT:
- An Interview with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on Health IT
Newt Gingrich believes that health IT can revolutionize medicine and save the nation billions. He discusses the current roadblocks to health IT and the role government can play in accelerating adoption. http://www.ncsl.org/magazine/articles/2008/08SLJun08_Newt.htm
NCSL’s new searchable database of health IT legislation is now online. The database allows you to search bills based on state, topic, status, bill type, year and keyword. It includes all health IT bills from 2008 and all enactments from 2007.
Legislative Database: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/forum/Hitch/HIT_database.cfm
We have posted 2008 Executive Orders related to health IT on the HITCh page. So far this year four Governors have provided guidance through these orders.
2008 Executive Orders: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/forum/Hitch/HIT_EO.htm
Google--and Others--Offer a Personal Health Record and States Think About Their Privacy Laws
Google and other internet providers are inviting consumers to go online to create their personal health records. But privacy experts are concerned. With the exception of California, states don't protect PHRs held by "third parties" under their privacy laws.
NCSL looks at this issue in a State Health Notes article: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/shn/2008/sn517b.htm
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the third largest purchaser of health care in the nation covering over 1.2 million individuals, plans to support the efforts of CALRHIO to create a state-wide health information exchange. To do so CalPERS directed its current health plans – Anthem Blue Cross (formerly Blue Cross of California), Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente – to join the health information exchange network being built by CalRHIO.
The first step in building this HIE will be connecting physicians in emergency departments to patient data. The first hospitals wired will have a high volume of CALPERs members. CalRHIO is lining up capital to pay for the initial creation of the network. Ongoing support for the system will be funded through fees, likely around $25, for each patient record delivered to the emergency department. This is a huge boost for efforts in California to build a state-wide health information exchange.
Government Health IT article on the CalPERS and CalRHIO Announcement: http://www.govhealthit.com/online/news/350327-1.html
HIMSS interview with the President and CEO of CalRHIO Don Holmquest: http://himss.org/ASP/ContentRedirector.asp?ContentID=67959&type=HIMSSNewsItem
We have two great sessions planned for the Legislative Summit in New Orleans. Be sure to add these to your calendar for the Legislative Summit. We look forward to seeing you in July.
A Health Revolution in the Making?
Thursday, July 24th 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Tech-savvy players such as Revolution Health and Microsoft are transforming health care through easy access to advice and online storage of personal health records. States will want to help shape this transformation. What can they do? What should they do?
- Speakers: Matthew Holt, Health Care Strategist, Matthew Holt Consulting
- Dr. Jim Mault, Health Solutions Group, Microsoft Corporation, Washington
- Deven McGraw, Director, Health Privacy Project, Center for Democracy & Technology
HITCh Meeting
From Thought to Action: How to Make Health IT a Reality in Your State
Thursday, July 24th 4:15 pm - 5:45 pm at the Hilton Riverside
Health IT can help transform health care in this country. Come learn from experts from three of the leading projects helping states in this exciting field. The session will have speakers from the State Alliance for e-Health, the State-Level Health Information Exchange Consensus Project and Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC).
- Speakers: Lynn Dierker, State-Level HIE Consensus Project
- Alan Levine, Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals, Louisiana (State Alliance for e-Health)
- Invited: Julia F. Costich, Chair, Dept. of Health Services Management Univ. of Kentucky (HISPC)
Upcoming State Alliance for e-Health Meetings
State Alliance for e-Health
August 6, 2008
Ritz-Carlton | Washington, DC
9:00am - 5:00pm
Privacy and Security Taskforce
June 19-20, 2008
Washington, DC
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