HIT: Brailer calls today the 'end of the beginning'

Speaking at the AHIMA conference in a surprisingly rainy San Diego, Federal health IT czar David Brailer said that the rash of announcements coming out of his office signaled the end of the discussion and investigation period. He called it the "end of the beginning" of the 10-year national health initiative and said that in the future, October 2005 would be remembered as a pivotal month for HIT in the US.

Summarizing a series of announcements, Brailer recounted that federal agencies would now be creating overarching standards for health data tied to business problems; certifying EMRs that met certain security, technological and process standards; and setting the architecture for a future interoperable infrastructure. He likened his vision to the cell phone network: There would be different services and different devices, but in the end there will be a network that all EMRs can be plugged into.

- for more, read these posts on The Health Care Blog