Electronic health information protection reaches milestone with security framework
Hoping to stem a dramatic rise in breaches and theft of patient health data, the Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) has unveiled the Common Security Framework (CSF), a compilation of representatives from the healthcare industry, including health providers, plans and data exchanges to pharmacies, biotech firms and device manufacturers. The 18-month effort is the first IT security control framework designed exclusively for healthcare information, and is the only available approach that makes data security cost-effective and practical for organizations of any type or size, according to Randall N. Spratt, Executive Vice President of McKesson and host of the HITRUST CSF launch. The new framework should “help accelerate adoption of technologies that will dramatically improve the safety and efficiency of America’s healthcare system,” he said. http://www.hitrustalliance.net/news/index.php?a=24

Coalition again calls upon FDA to create national ID system for medical devices
For the second time in two years, the Advancing Patient Safety Coalition (APSC) has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to create a national unique identification (UDI) system for medical devices. The coalition – a group of healthcare provider, consumer, research and quality organizations – said the FDA has been working on developing such a program for more than five years and is now overdue. “While the [APSC] appreciates the open and transparent process the agency has followed, the time to act is now,” the organization notes. “Therefore, we strongly urge the FDA to move the rulemaking process forward this year to implement a regulated, mandatory UDI system that is globally harmonized.” APSC also advocated the system in 2008, as it waited for the FDA to move forward on releasing a proposed rule on the medical device ID system. http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/FDA...

Hong Kong mulls implementing $1.1 billion EHR system by 2019
Hong Kong’s Food & Health Bureau is considering development of an area-wide electronic patient record-sharing system as part of the government’s push toward healthcare reform. The EHR system enables different healthcare providers in the public and private sectors to enter, transfer and retrieve data, with procedures for obtaining patients’ consent, and mechanisms for authenticating and controlling data access. The bureau is formulating a 10-year planning roadmap and estimates that the system will cost $1.1 billion [USD] to develop. Creation will take place from 2009 to 2019. Upon full implementation, the e-record system is expected to bring an efficiency gain of about $860 million a year to total health expenditure due to reduced administering of paper medical records, duplicate laboratory tests and other documentation. http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/...

Dial-up Internet still the preferred or only way to go for many rural Americans
In a finding that could mean market difficulties for services such as home telemonitoring, nearly half of all rural Americans do not subscribe to high-speed Internet services, according to a new report by the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. The Agriculture Department’s 2009 “Rural Broadband at a Glance” report cites Census Bureau data showing that only 52 percent of rural households use broadband, compared to 64 percent of their urban counterparts. The non-broadband users rely on dial-up Internet access, which leaves them unable to use many content-rich applications or even anti-virus software. The Internet access gap comes even as the availability of broadband increased by 60 percent from 2000 to 2006, according to the report. Regardless of the method in which they connect to the Web, rural Americans definitely want access to services found on the Internet. They would, however, benefit more from higher-speed connections for medical care matters, the report added. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/EIB47/EIB47.pdf

World Health Organization’s ‘eHealth Intelligence Report’ finally goes online
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an online “eHealth Intelligence Report (eHIR)” after a four-year delay. The biweekly report, available at www.who.int/goe/ehir/en/ , offers coverage of e-health events worldwide and world opinions on e-health. In 2005, WHO began distributing an e-mail version of its eHIR to interested shareholders as part of the eHealth Resolution passed that year. Site organizers say the eHIR became “an increasingly important virtual meeting point that offers readers a snapshot of the latest publications and major news and events; and it gives authors and event organizers the opportunity to share their work with the e-health community.” Only issues from 2009 are currently available; WHO hopes to have archives dating to 2006 online by April. The report is also available only in English, but will eventually be released in Arabic, Russian, Chinese, French and Spanish. http://www.ehealthnews.eu/content/view/1525/27/ and http://www.who.int/goe/ehir/en/

Latest pilot projects move Australian EHR system a step closer to reality
Australia’s National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) plans to have two pilot projects underway by the end of this year to test the usefulness of various components to its planned individual electronic health records (EHR) system. According to NEHTA Clinical Leader Dr. Mukesh Haikerwal, the group’s pilot efforts will examine EHR e-pathology, e-prescribing, and referral and discharge elements. If successful, universal health identifiers (UHIs) for patients and health professionals will be a major step closer to reality. “[UHIs] need to be ready to be rolled out, but we still need legislation and other governmental interventions to make sure those things are legislated for,” Haikerwal said. Future “fact-finding” pilots will determine important alliances for e-health, he added. http://www.6minutes.com.au/articles/z1/view.asp?id=469811

New Mexico Senate gives strong thumbs-up to state EHR system creation bill
The New Mexico Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill allowing hospitals and doctors to create an electronic health record (EHR) system. Sponsored by Sen. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe), S.B. 278, The Electronic Medical Records Act, requires patients to give consent annually to having their medical records in the system. Patients may also request a report of who has accessed their health records. Doctors have optional participation in the EHR system. The bill passed in the Senate by a 36-4 vote and now moves to the state House of Representatives for consideration. The New Mexico Department of Health is using EHRs in all public medical offices; supporters hope S.B. 278 will encourage the private sector to do the same.  http://www.health.state.nm.us/documents/...

Georgia Cancer Coalition launches health data exchange, sets 2010 completion date
Atlanta-based nonprofit Georgia Cancer Coalition (GCC) plans to develop a health data exchange over the next nine to 12 months to share evidence-based medicine with the state’s community cancer care centers. GCC will use the exchange to acquire, analyze and report patient data around quality measures from providers and hospitals that deliver cancer care, according to GCC Chief Executive Officer Bill Todd. GCC selected Salt Lake City-based technology specialist Medicity to build the exchange’s data platform. The platform should accelerate research well ahead of the typical 15-year “bench to bedside” timeframe, Todd noted. The project, which began in February, will involve three initial exchange members or cancer care provider sites, and will include data analysis, development of the exchange design, and deployment. http://infosite.medicity.com/news/09_0302.pdf

Philippine government emphasizes telemedicine funding in 2009 budget
The Philippine government has allocated $2.1 million [USD] in its 2009 national budget for telemedicine sites nationwide to enhance delivery of health services, according to Sen. Edgardo Angara. The funding was granted partly in response to a report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which stated that a deepening global economic crisis could impact health services for children and expectant mothers in developing countries. Telemedicine, according to Angara, is a way to provide medical care in far-flung areas of the Philippines without raising costs. “This allocation for telemedicine is very timely,” said Angara, who is chairperson of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology. “Our mission to provide quality healthcare during these tough times of crisis hinges on our capability to innovate and stretch every peso we can get for the health sector.” http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com...

EHR system will go online in Canadian province as scheduled, but not as planned
New Brunswick, Canada, is on schedule to have its electronic health record (EHR) system online by the end of 2009, but the system will be missing some vital information in its early days, according to the province’s Department of Health. When the records are launched, physicians working in emergency rooms across the province will be able to access information about their patient’s previous hospital visits. But for the time being, those doctors won’t be able to review information about the patient’s medications or any data from their family doctor’s files, according to department spokesperson Lise Daigle. It takes time, she said, to roll out a program of this size. The New Brunswick Medical Society and physicians from across the province must still discuss what kinds of information should be included in the EHR system, and how that information will be recorded and transferred by the patient’s family doctor, Daigle said. http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/588921

Standards are critical to success of government’s health IT investment, experts note
Healthcare information experts say technology standards will be the key to the success of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s $19 billion investment in information technology. The National Institute of Standards and Technology will receive $20 million to develop standards for electronic health records to help expand the in-progress Nationwide Health Information Network. Those standards are critical to making the system work, according to Dr. Stephen Jones, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. “In order to have interoperability you must have standards, just like railroads need to have standard gauges of track,” Jones said. The Act also provides the national coordinator’s office authority to develop a standards-based, nationwide health information technology infrastructure. The stimulus package gives $2 billion to the office to carry out the mandate and allocates $5 million for administrative overhead. http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090225_4974.php

National Health Information Network, SSA begin first records data exchange
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has become the first government agency to use the new Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) and has begun electronically receiving medical records from regional health information organization MedVirginia via its Bon Secours Richmond Health System in Richmond, VA. In October 2007, several government agencies, including the departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, SSA and the Indian Health Service, began trial implementations of an NHIN Cooperative. SSA’s use of the network marks the onset of NHIN’s production phase, according to Health and Human Services officials. MedVirginia Chief Executive Officer Michael Matthews said the system will cut SSA’s time to process disability claims from more than two months to a few weeks. http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/12/20081219a.html