Building an Information Technology Infrastructure

Collins S. R. Schoen C. Davis K. Gauthier A. K. Schoenbaum S. C. , A Roadmap to Health Insurance for All: Principles for Reform, The Commonwealth Fund, 2007, at 60, available at <http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=553840> (last visited September 11, 2008).

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Information Technology, available at <http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/> (last visited September 10, 2008).

Blumenthal D. Desroches C. Donelan K. , Health Information Technology in the United States: Where We Stand, 2008, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2008, available at <http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=31831?> (last visited September 21, 2008).

Institute of Medicine, “Using Information Technology,” in Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2001), available at <http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10027&utm_source=Network&utm_medium=Widgetv2&utm_content=v2&utm_campaign=Widget> (last visited September 21, 2008); Institute of Medicine, “Improving the Quality of Health Care for Mental and Substance-Use Conditions,” Quality Chasm (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2006), available at <http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11470&utm_source=Network&utm_medium=Widgetv2&utm_content=v2&utm_campaign=Widget> (last visited September 21, 2008).

See Collins , supra note 1, at 60.

Blumenthal D. Glaser J. P. , “Information Technology Comes to Medicine,” New England Journal of Medicine 356, no. 4 (2007): 2527–2534, at 2527.

Institute of Medicine, Key Capabilities of an Electronic Health Record System: Letter Report (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2003), available at <http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10781&utm_source=Network&utm_medium=Widgetv2&utm_content=v2&utm_campaign=Widget> (last visited September 21, 2008).

See Blumenthal Glaser , supra note 6, at 2528.

Gearon C. , Perspectives on the Future of Personal Health Records, California HealthCare Foundation, June 2007, available at <http://www.chcf.org/topics/chronicdisease/index.cfm?itemID=133289> (last visited September 15, 2008).

See Blumenthal Glaser , supra note 6, at 2528.

Connecting for Health, Achieving Electronic Connectivity in Healthcare: A Preliminary Roadmap from the Nation's Public and Private-Sector Healthcare Leaders, 2004, available at <http://www.connectingforhealth.org/resources/cfh_aech_roadmap_072004.pdf> (last visited September 15, 2008).

Connecting for Health, “What Is the Definition of Health Information Exchange (HIE)?” available at <http://www.connectingforhealth.org/aboutus/faqs.html> (last visited September 15, 2008).

See Blumenthal Glaser , supra note 6, at 2527.

Hillestad R. Bigelow J. Bower A. , “Can Electronic Medical Record Systems Transform Health Care? Potential Health Benefits, Savings, and Costs,” Health Affairs 24, no. 5 (2005): 1103–1117. A recent report by the Congressional Budget Office questions the suitability of the RAND study (in addition to one conducted by the Center for Information Technology Leadership) as a guide to the budgetary effects of legislative proposals aimed at increasing the use of health IT, stating that the study “appear[ed] to significantly overstate the savings for the health care system as a whole — and by extension, for the federal budget — that would accrue from legislative proposals to bring about widespread adoption of health IT.” Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office, “Evidence on the Costs and Benefits of Health Information Technology,” May 2008, at 8, available at <http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index-9168> (last visited September 15, 2008).

Id. (Congress of the United States), at 3.

See Blumenthal Glaser , supra note 6, at 2531.

Hing E. S. Burt C. W. Woodwell D. A. , “Electronic Medical Record Use By Office-Based Physicians and Their Practices: United States, 2006,” Advanced Data from Vital and Health Statistics, DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 2008–1250., No. 393, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD, October 26, 2007, at 1–7.

Jha A. K. Ferris T. G. Donelan K. , “How Common Are Electronic Health Records in the United States? A Summary of the Evidence,” Health Affairs 25, no. 6 (2006): w496–w507.

DesRoches C. M. Campbell E. G. Rao S. R. , “Electronic Health Records in Ambulatory Care: A National Survey of Physicians,” New England Journal of Medicine 359, no. 1 (2008): 50–60.

See Jha , supra note 19.

Executive Order no. 13,335, Incentives for the Use of Health Information Technology and Establishing the Position of the National Health Information Technology Coordinator, April 27, 2004, available at <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040427–4.html> (last visited September 14, 2008).

Executive Order no. 13,410, Promoting Quality and Efficient Health Care in Federal Government Administered or Sponsored Health Care Programs, August 22, 2006, available at <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/08/20060822–2.html> (last visited September 15, 2008).

The Medicare Funding Warning Response Act of 2008, S 2662 (introduced in Senate February 25, 2008); HR 5480 (introduced in House February 25, 2008).

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, The ONC-Coordinated Federal Health IT Strategic Plan: 2008–2012, June 3, 2008, available at <http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/resources/reports.html> (last visited September 15, 2008).

As of February 2008, literally hundreds of pieces of proposed legislation addressing one or more aspects of health information had been introduced in the 110th Congress. See <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/thomas> (search conducted by authors, February 28, 2008).

See, e.g., Wired for Health Care Quality Act, S 1693 (introduced in Senate June 27, 2007).

“Senate Committee OKs Reserve Fund for Health Care IT Bills,” iHealthBeat Web site, March 7, 2008, available at <http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2008/3/7/Senate-Committee-OKs-Reserve-Fund-for-Health-Care-IT-Bills.aspx?topicID=52> (last visited September 15, 2008).

The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2007, Public Law 110–275 (July 15, 2008).

Smith V. K. Gifford K. Kramer S. , State E-Health Activities in 2007: Findings from a State Survey, The Commonwealth Fund, February 2008, available at <http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=669309> (last visited September 15, 2008).

Lake Research Partners, American Viewpoint, and Connecting for Health, Survey Finds Americans Want Electronic Personal Health Information to Improve Own Health Care, 2006, available at <http://www.markle.org/downloadable_assets/research_doc_120706.pdf> (last visited September 15, 2008).

Collins S. R. Kriss J. L. , Envisioning the Future: The 2006 Presidential Candidates' Health Reform Proposals, The Commonwealth Fund, 2008, available at <http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=647708> (last visited October 1, 2008); Kaiser Family Foundation, Health08.org: 2008, “Presidential Candidate Health Care Proposals: Side-by-Side Summary,” 2007, available at <http://www.health08.org/sidebyside.cfm> (last visited June 8, 2008).

See <http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/> (last visited September 28, 2008); <http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/issues/19ba2f1c-c03f-4ac2–8cd5–5cf2edb527cf.htm> (last visited September 28, 2008).

WHO, Building Foundations for eHealth: Progress of Member States, World Health Organization, 2006, available at <http://www.who.int/ehealth/resources/bf_full.pdf> (last visited September 16, 2008).

See Blumenthal Desroches Donelan , supra note 3.

See Blumenthal Glaser , supra note 6, at 2530.

See Blumenthal Desroches Donelan , supra note 3.

See Blumenthal Glaser , supra note 6, at 2532; see also Congress of the United States, supra note 15, at 7.

Smith V. K. Gifford K. Kramer S. , supra note 30.

Lake Research Partners, American Viewpoint, and Connecting for Health, supra note 30; see also California HealthCare Foundation, California Health Privacy Survey, 2005, available at <http://www.chcf.org/topics/view.cfm?itemID=115694> (last visited September 16, 2008).

See, e.g., Health Information Privacy and Security Act, S 1814, Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (July 18, 2007) (imposing criminal and civil sanctions for unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information); The Technologies for Restoring Users' Security and Trust (TRUST) in Health Information Act, HR 5442 (introduced February 14, 2008) (empowering patients to keep their medical records out of HIT databases unless they first give their consent).

Blumenthal D. Desroches C. Donelan K. , Health Information Technology in the United States: The Information Base for Progress, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2006, available at <http://www.rwjf.org/files/publications/other/EHRReport0609.pdf> (last visited September 16, 2008).

See Blumenthal Glaser , supra note 6, at 2530.

See Collins , supra note 1.

Public Law 108–173 (108th Cong. 1st sess.) §101(a) adding §1860D-4(e) of the Social Security Act. Interestingly, a recent study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) found that hospitals have been slow to help physicians purchase EHRs despite the regulatory changes. See Center for Studying Health System Change, Issue Brief No. 123 (September 2008), available at <http://www.hschange.com/CONTENT/1015/> (last visited September 28, 2008).

71 Federal Register 45,140; 45,110–45,134 (August 8, 2006). See HHS News Release, New Regulations to Facilitate Adoption of Health Information Technology , August 1, 2006, available at <http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2006pres/20060801.html> (last visited September 16, 2008).

See Executive Order no. 13,410, Promoting Quality and Efficient Health Care in Federal supra note 23.

See Blumenthal Glaser , supra note 6, at 2533.