Mostashari Anticipates 'Big Win' in HIE in 2012

Dr. Farzad Mostashari, the national health IT coordinator, expects health information exchange to ramp up significantly in 2012 because the necessary elements of interoperability will be in place. The health information exchange strategy means finally bringing together the standards, identity authentication certificates, governance for rules of the road, and the availability of directories or digital provider phone books.

These will enable providers to exchange information whether through a simple transaction for a referral or sharing a test with another provider or a more complex query for patient data. More work will need to be done, “but I think we really do have the pieces coming together for a big win on interoperability in exchange in 2012,” he told the Feb. 1 meeting of the advisory Health IT Policy Committee.

Health information exchange will be a critical part of the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) as it moves to stage 2 in order to coordinate care and to share data to demonstrate improved patient outcomes...