Federal health IT panel hoping to broaden use of EMRs

The physician representative will push the committee to consider the unique needs of smaller practices in implementing electronic medical records.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Oct. 3, 2005.

Washington -- When it comes to addressing the problem of creating truly universal electronic medical records, the federal government wants physicians to know that it's on the case.

In September, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt named 16 charter members to the American Health Information Community, or AHIC, a public-private collaborative that will spend the next several years recommending ways to migrate from paper to digital patient records. Within a decade, the Bush administration wants most Americans outfitted with an EMR that medical professionals can share with one other.

"The president has set a national goal to move health care from the paper age to the information age, and the American Health Information Community will help guide this transformation." Leavitt said. "My aspiration is for the community to provide stakeholders with a meaningful voice in a federal process that will ultimately shape health care for generations."

Representing the physician community on the panel is Douglas Henley, MD, the American Academy of Family Physicians' executive vice president. Leavitt chose him from a list of three potential appointees put forward jointly by AAFP, the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics. AMA Immediate Past Chair J. James Rohack, MD, and ACP Executive Vice President John Tooker, MD, were the groups' other recommendations.