CDC and the not-for-profit American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network will partner to link 140 federally-funded blood disorder treatment centers across the country and to create a repository to back up patients' electronic health records, according to Diane Aschman, president and CEO of the network, Government Health IT reports.
The database will ensure that patients' EHRs are accessible during a disaster or other circumstance that prevents physicians from locally accessing records. It also will support research into treatment outcomes, transmission of blood disorders and public health surveillance.
Aschman said patients would be asked to let researchers access their records via the database. In addition to hemophilia and other blood disorders, the research likely will provide valuable information on more common diseases and strokes, Government Health IT reports (Ferris, Government Health IT, 1/17).