CHICAGO (September 29, 2010) – Invited to testify at the congressional hearing Standards for Health IT: Meaningful Use and Beyond, Joyce Sensmeier, MS, RN-BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, who serves as HIMSS Vice President for Informatics, will share the HIMSS perspective on the progress of federal efforts in the standards arena to support the first stage of Meaningful Use. The hearing will be held on Sept. 30, from 10 a.m.-noon EDT in room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC.
The purpose of the hearing is “to discuss the status of the standards for interoperability and information security for electronic health records and health care information technology systems.” During her oral testimony, Ms. Sensmeier will address two issues, as requested by the Subcommittee:
- What progress has ONC made since the passage of the HITECH Act in meeting the need for interoperability and information security standards for electronic health records and health IT systems?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current health IT standards identification and development process, and what should the top standards-related priorities be for future health IT activities?
Ms. Sensmeier has been intricately involved in the harmonization and adoption of health IT standards during her decade at HIMSS. During this time, she led the development of Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, or IHE, with co-sponsor the Radiological Society of North America. IHE is a global initiative that drives the adoption of health IT standards. She also led HIMSS involvement with the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel, a federal standards harmonization effort, while collaborating with another organization to form the Alliance of Nursing Informatics, an affiliation of 27 distinct nursing informatics organizations that she chairs. Ms. Sensmeier is board-certified in nursing informatics and a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
Other witnesses invited to present during the hearing are:
- David Blumenthal, MD, MPP – National Coordinator for Healthcare Information Technology, Office of the National Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services
- Dr. Dick Gibson, President, Oregon Health Network
- Deven McGraw, Director of the Health Privacy Project, Center for Democracy and Technology
- Kathleen M. Roberts, Associate Director for Federal and Industrial Relations, Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
More information on the hearing is available on the Subcommittee website. To listen to the live hearing, a webcast link will be available in the “Webcast” box on the Subcommittee’s website on the day of the hearing.
Ms. Sensmeier’s testimony will be posted on the HIMSS website at http://www.himss.org/advocacy/news_congress.asp at the conclusion of the hearing.
