'Meaningful Use' of the Nationwide Health Information Network: Lessons Learned from SSA and the States

The Social Security Administration (SSA) was the first federal agency to use the NHIN as a tool to gain rapid access to electronic health information. In its partnership with MedVirgina, the Richmond-based regional Health Information Exchange (HIE), the partners used NHIN technologies to speed the delivery of clinical health records of patients awaiting medical disability decisions. In accelerating the process from weeks to days, the project often dramatically improved the quality of life of individual patients as well as eliminated costs and overhead associated with manual record-keeping.

In this e-seminar hosted by Government Health IT magazine, James C. Borland, special advisor to the SSA for health IT, and Jean McGraw, chief operating officer of MedVirginia will assess their experience setting up this pioneering NHIN application as they look ahead to the era of rapid adoption and meaningful use of health IT among individual practices and hospitals. Among the topics that will be addressed are: Key lessons from the SSA-MedVirginia partnership most relevant to agencies, other HIE’s and individual providers facing a new era of health IT; how federal agencies and state-based health organizations can best use NHIN-based tools and services to foster information exchange with satellite and partner organizations; what meaningful use requirements will be most significant to the expansion of a broader health information Internet.

What will I learn?

1. Identify agency and HIE projects and objectives that are in line with the HITECH Act’s meaningful use framework for EHR adoption.
2. Learn what NHIN services and tools will be best conductors for expanding HIE by 2011.
3. Discover potential for establishing health information sharing projects via local and regional HIE organizations with federal and state government health-related agencies.

Who should attend?

1. Senior-Level Federal Health IT program executives
2. State and Local Government Health IT Senior-Level Executives
3. Director of State HIE initiatives
4. Local HIE partners