The role of communities in developing private and secure electronic health networks will be highlighted and bolstered by the eHealth Initiativeís Third Annual Connecting Communities Learning Forum in Washington, D.C. April 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. The crucial role of business in helping to improve the quality and safety of health care through health information exchange will be explored as well.
The Connecting Communities Program, conducted by the eHealth Initiative Foundation (eHI), provides seed funding and technical support to multi-stakeholder collaboratives within communities which are using electronic health information exchange to drive improvements in healthcare quality, safety, and efficiency. The Learning Forum is a unique opportunity for practitioners and leaders of these local and regional collaboratives to identify common principles to advance their work, as well as strategies to tackle common clinical, financial, legal, organizational, and technical challenges.
A special learning track based on the newly-published Connecting for Health Common Framework: Resources for Implementing Private and Secure Health Information Exchange will provide an opportunity to discuss these technical, legal, and policy resources. The Common Framework has been tested in three very different communities and enables communication among health networks through a set of common technical and policy standards for private and secure health information exchange. This special learning track within the Forum will begin Monday, April 10 with a keynote address by Carol Diamond, MD, MPH, managing director of the Markle Foundation’s Health Program and chair of Connecting for Health.
This Forum is a must-attend event for anyone interested in implementing private and secure health information exchange,î Diamond said. ìMany of the technology, legal, and policy experts from the Connecting for Health collaborative and its three prototype communities in Boston, Indianapolis, and Mendocino, CA will share lessons from our collective experience over the last year and a half, developing and testing a federated and decentralized prototype for health information exchange. This forum is our first opportunity to discuss these results and share the rich resources available in the Connecting for Health Common Framework: Resources for Implementing Private and Secure Health Information Exchange with leaders of local efforts.î
Within the special Connecting for Health learning track, experts in technology, health privacy law, and health policy will explain what they have learned from the experience implementing the Common Framework in three communities. Speakers will share resources which participants can draw upon as they pursue efforts to achieve secure and private health information exchange. Panelists will discuss policies for ensuring that diverse health information-sharing networks or organizations can communicate with one another while using a set of essential common technical and policy standards. Experts will also discuss the common elements of health information exchange architecture, detailed technical documentation, and model contractual language for trusted health information sharing.
ìThis conference is a critical learning opportunity designed to allow the exchange of ideas with leaders and members of communities all around the country,î Diamond said.
Employers and health care purchasers will also play a significant role in the exchange of electronic health information, said the leader of the Washington, DC-based National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH). NBCH is sponsoring a special meeting in conjunction with the Forum to bring leaders in business coalitions together with leaders in electronic health information exchange to define collaborative strategies to improve the quality, safety and effectiveness of healthcare.
ìAs healthcare purchasers, business has a vested interest in the use of electronic health information technology to improve the quality of healthcare,î said Andrew Webber, president and CEO of NBCH. ìThis event will advance the business and community collaboration efforts that are already advancing across the country, and encourage stakeholders to play a vital role in their development.î
The NBCH event is designed to inform participants of the status of health information exchange activities and to facilitate the growing collaboration between business leaders, providers and other stakeholders in community-led efforts.
ìPurchasers are strategically positioned to be a force in driving transformation in our healthcare system through electronic health information exchange,î said Janet Marchibroda, chief executive officer of eHI. ìThe role they play in the governance and structure of emerging health information exchange efforts is vital to support improvements in patient care and to lower healthcare costs.î For more information on the program and registration, go to www.ccbh.ehealthinitiative.org/ccbhconference.
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eHealth Initiatives Third Annual Connecting Communities Learning Forum in Washington, DC April 9-11
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