David More wrote:
Hi Oliver,
If you want to know how it can be done properly for ambulatory care
(i.e. GP and specialists) I suggest you browse www.cchit.org. They have
it sorted for the US and it is pretty impressive how they plan to move
forward I reckon.
Pity GP systems is not a focus for NEHTA so this could be replicated
here. Imagine if there was a decent standard for functionality and
interoperability that Australian providers had to meet. They might not
be all that supportive of such a sensible move I fear as it might cost a
few $$ and so on.
http://www.cchit.org/physicians/overview.htm
tells us:
"CCHIT is the recognized certification authority in the United States
for EHR products - an independent, private-sector organization that sets
the Gold Standard for EHRs."
I hope that I never hear that overworked expression 'gold standard' used
again, because its orginal meaning is no longer known by most people.
Their PDF: "Physician’s Guide: CCHIT Certification for Ambulatory
Electronic Health Records 2006"
tells us:
"CCHIT was founded by the American Health
Information Management Association,
the Healthcare Information and Management
Systems Society and the National Alliance
for Health Information Technology.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) awarded CCHIT a three-year
contract to develop and test certification
criteria and manage an inspection process
for certifying EHRs. At the end of the
contract, CCHIT will transition to a selfsustaining
certification agency."
So they have three years of federal government money to kick start the
process, then it has to become self-funding. David, do you know when
their three years of government funding will be up?
"CCHIT works in collaboration with the
American Health Information Community,
the Department of Commerce’s National
Institute of Standard and Technology, and
with several other organizations awarded
HHS contracts to harmonize standards,
develop prototypes for a national health
information network architecture, and assess
privacy and security laws and practices.
The work of CCHIT has been endorsed by a
number of physician professional organizations,
including:
- The American Academy of Family Physicians"
OK, so their equivalent of the RACGP is supporting it. Good.
Let's also go for three years of government funding for an organisation
indepenedent of government, run by the profession and software industry
jointly. Maybe we can save some time and money by using or adapting
some of the standards that CCHIT has developed for GP computer systems
in the US, keeping in mind the very different way that medical practice
is organised and funded there.
--
Oliver Frank, general practitioner
255 North East Road, Hampstead Gardens, South Australia 5086
Phone 08 8261 1355 Fax 08 8266 5149 Mobile 0407 181 683
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