Dr. Robert Kolodner, interim national coordinator for health IT, told governors at the inaugural State Alliance for e-Health meeting in Washington, D.C., on Friday, that they would play a significant role in building the country's health care IT system, Healthcare IT News reports.
The alliance, which was established in October 2006 under a contract from HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, decided to focus on privacy and security, clinician licensure and liability issues regarding health data exchanges (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 1/26).
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D), who co-chairs the state alliance with Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R), said, "I think (the opinion) is that the states can move much more quickly." He added, "I don't trust the federal government to actually do anything on my watch" (Sternstein, Technology Daily, 1/26).
The alliance at the meeting created task forces on:
- Health information protection;
- Health care practice; and
- Health information communication and data exchange.
The task forces will make recommendations to the alliance, which then will report to the federal government, Bredesen said (
Healthcare IT News, 1/26).