The State Alliance for e-Health (State Alliance) has released a report calling for accelerated adoption and use of health information technology (HIT) and electronic health information exchange (HIE) to speed improvements in the U.S. healthcare system.
The State Alliance specifically highlights e-prescribing and consumer privacy as critical to advancing e-Health in America and encourages states to be proactive in creating and implementing policies that advance these and other e-health initiatives, according to the report.
In addition to advancing e-prescribing and addressing privacy concerns, the new report offers recommendations and specific strategies to help states speed the transition to increased use of HIT and electronic HIE, including:
- Promoting the use of standards-based, interoperable technology;
- Streamlining the provider licensure process to enable cross-state e-health;
- Engaging consumers to use HIT in managing their health and health care;
- Developing workforce capacity to support electronic HIE efforts; and
- Providing leadership and support for e-health efforts.
The State Alliance is a consensus-based, executive-level body composed of governors, state legislators, attorney generals and state commissioners.
