Portrait of David Hunt

HHS to Launch Workgroup to Help Eliminate Health Disparities

David Hunt | March 31, 2011

Despite continued advances in heath care and technology, racial and ethnic minorities continue to have higher rates of disease, disability, and premature death than non-minorities. In response to this discrepancy, HHS is preparing to launch the National Partnership for Action, which will be the first HHS national plan to eliminate health disparities—persistent gaps between the health status of minorities and non-minorities. Health information technology (HIT) is a critical aspect of this plan. 

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Portrait of Dr. David Blumenthal

ONC Seeks Comment on the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2011-2015

Dr. David Blumenthal | March 25, 2011

Providing strategic leadership to public and private sector efforts to improve health and health care through the use of information and technology is a key responsibility of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The Federal Health IT Strategic Plan (“the Plan”) [PDF – 1 MB] is an important tool for guiding national efforts and investments in health IT over the next several years. 

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Portrait of Patricia Dombrowski ,

Getting to Know Your Community College Consortium: Part 1, Region A

Patricia Dombrowski | March 23, 2011

Providers will need an increased workforce of skilled health IT specialists as they transition to electronic health records (EHRs).
That’s why the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) created the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Professionals Program, which is a part of ONC’s Health IT Workforce Development Program.

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Portrait of Dr. Doug Fridsma ,

Direct Project Adoption Could Positively Impact Care Coordination Soon

Dr. Doug Fridsma | March 21, 2011

As an internal medicine physician, I know how hard it was to coordinate patient care across diverse health care systems. Primary care providers struggle to keep up with the flow of information coming in and going out of their offices on faxes, couriered documents, and hand carried patient notes. The Direct Project was created to address this problem head-on by creating a simple, secure way to send this information electronically, so that providers can concentrate on what counts: excellent patient care.

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