Oral

The major challenges facing the U.S. healthcare systems are escalating costs, lack of access to almost 40 million residents, and inconsistent quality. It is argued that the use of electronic health records systems and the implementation of interoperable health information exchanges (HIE) will result in significant cost savings, outcomes and quality improvement, reduction in medical errors and redundancies, and the enhancement of public health and disease surveillance. The ultimate result of this investment is the transformation of the U.S. Healthcare system. In order to achieve such a transformation and the attendant benefits the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocated over 30 billion dollars to encourage the use of electronic health records and develop interoperable health information exchanges. The development of credible strategic plans and the implementation of sustainable health information exchanges are prerequisites to the achievement of the long term benefits of the HITECH Act.

Session Objectives: 1. Discuss the development of a strategic plan for health information exchanges 2. Discuss the major challenges to the implementation of sustainable health information exchanges.