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Healthcare

US government launches new Health IT blog

By Jianggan Li | 25 November 2009

Dr David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health IT, has launched Health IT Buzz , to give readers more information about health information technology (HIT) and provide a forum for public engagement.

Dr Blumenthal heads up the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), which was formed by Executive Order in 2004 under the Department of Health and Human Services. In February 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which maps out incentive schemes for care providers to adopt Electronic Medical Record. The Act also provides substantial stimulus funding (US$20 billion) for the development and implementation of HIT. Under ARRA, the ONC expanded its scope and responsibility to developing a nationwide HIT infrastructure.

“At ONC, we believe there are many great ideas to share about how to use health IT and exchange electronic health information to improve outcomes and reduce costs in our health care system,” says a statement sent to FutureGov from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

“The recent, unprecedented commitment of our nation to support the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) has accelerated the pace of conversation. ONC and others have been listening,” the statement elaborates.

The purpose of the blog is ‘to foster a meaningful and constructive discussion’, for which the ONC is committed to ensure that they will provide unique, individual perspectives on what’s going on at ONC; post comments, except for spam and remarks that are off-topic, denigrating or offensive; reply to comments promptly, when appropriate; as well as be respectful of privacy and different opinions.

The office also urges citizens, patients, health professionals, managers, policymakers, ‘technology enthusiasts and technology sceptics’ to contribute to the discussion.

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