Panel to guide new national EHR system

A new government panel will help oversee the creation of a nationwide electronic health record (EHR) system, Health and Human Services Head Michael Leavitt said Monday. The announcement came at the meeting of a health information management association in New York. Officially to be called the American Health Information Community (AHIC), the panel will be in a position to theoretically wield tremendous influence within the healthcare and technology industries.

The HHS plan gives the body the responsibility of overseeing the development of standards governing network architecture, data, the certification and inspection of health records, and security and privacy. HHS will issue RFPs for vendors to assist in each of the four areas today. An important government announcement on e-prescribing will also be made in the near future, Leavitt told his audience.

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