National Initiatives

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology was created by Presidential Executive Order in 2004 and charged with leading in the development of a National Health Information Network (NHIN).  The overall goal is to for most all Americans to have access to an interoperable electronic medical record by 2014.  The primary objectives of the Executive Order are to:

• Provide incentives and reduce the risk of electronic medical record adoption by clinical practices;
• Interconnect physicians by fostering regional networks and a national network;
• Encourage personal health records and consumer choice and promote telehealth; and
• Improve population health through unified surveillance systems, streamlined quality monitoring, and an accelerated dissemination of evidence.

More information about the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is available at http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/

Several other national offices, commissions and public private collaboratives play key roles in shaping NHIN.  Information on these efforts is available at http://nyehealth.org/links