The federal government's role in promoting widespread health IT should not be permanent, Vish Sankaran, director of the Federal Health Architecture Program, said Tuesday at the Healthcare Stimulus Exchange Roadshow in Boston, Healthcare IT News reports.
Instead, the federal government's goal is to "raise the bar, tip the market" and work with the private sector, Sankaran said.
Role of CONNECT Software
Sankaran said the open-source CONNECT software will be key to public-private collaboration on health IT.
Officials created the CONNECT platform to allow federal agencies and private systems to link to the Nationwide Health Information Network.
Challenges Remain
Sankaran acknowledged several short-term challenges associated with widespread health IT adoption, such as:
- Financial constraints;
- Lack of technical expertise; and
- Lack of infrastructure.
Sankaran stressed the need to provide incentives to encourage the adoption of interoperable electronic health records, to "provide guidance in nationwide health IT standards and agreements," and to "engage the consumer" in new developments (Miliard, Healthcare IT News, 2/9).