The National Alliance for Health Information Technology (Washington), a partnership of senior executives from all healthcare sectors working to advance the adoption of clinical information technology, is participating in a project for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) to develop consensus-based definitions for key health information technology terms.
Under the direction of management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint Inc. (McLean, Va.), the Alliance says it will create and secure industry endorsement of definitions for electronic health record (EHR), electronic medical record (EMR), personal health record (PHR), health information exchange (HIE) and regional health information organization (RHIO).
As a first step in the definitions project, organizations may submit definitions for EHR, EMR, PHR, HIE and RHIO for consideration by Nov. 2 at www.definitions.nahit.org.
Submissions for work group candidates will be accepted between Nov. 5 and Nov. 16.
In addition, public forums will be convened to gather input in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Houston in December, January and February. Public comments also will be accepted throughout that period.
