On Tuesday, 82 health care providers from across the country convened at a White House Health IT Town Hall in Washington, D.C., to be recognized for their success in adopting and implementing electronic health record systems, Healthcare IT News reports.
During the town hall, senior White House and HHS officials discussed the progress and barriers that they encountered in their efforts to promote health IT adoption nationwide.
A panel of health care professionals also shared stories about how federal health IT programs -- such as Regional Extension Centers -- have helped them implement EHR systems.
Jeff Hummel -- medical director for health informatics at Qualis Health and the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center -- discussed how health IT can help improve health in communities. He also talked about strategies for addressing health IT challenges, such as those related to privacy, security and interoperability (McCann, Healthcare IT News, 6/19).
Ted Chan -- a program leader for the San Diego Beacon Community, a coalition of health care providers working to improve care through health IT -- spoke about his organization's success in creating a health information exchange. By allowing the electronic sharing of electrocardiograms between ambulances and hospital emergency departments, the exchange helped reduce costs and improve care, Chan said (Gallant, San Diego Business Journal, 6/20).