DHHS Announces New Health Information Technology Initiative

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson July 21 released a press release detailing a report "Decade of Health Information Technology: Delivering Consumer-centric and Information-Rich Health Care," which outlines a ten-year plan for implementing the adoption of electronic health records for all Americans. The report cites four major goals in the initiative: (1) bringing information tools to clinical practice; (2) building a healthcare information infrastructure; (3) using health information technology to encourage people to be involved in their healthcare decisions; and (4) expanding public health monitoring, quality of care measurement, and bringing research advances more quickly into medical practice. The new initiative is designed to transform the delivery of healthcare by building a health information infrastructure that will include electronic health records (EHRs) for all Americans and a nationwide network to link health records.



DHHS also issued a fact sheet about the report.