NASCIO Boosts Health IT Efforts

Amidst increasing national pressure for the creation of a health exchange network based on electronic health records (EHRs), the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has announced plans to boost it efforts and to encourage members to become more involved in health IT initiatives, Government Health IT reports.

This week, NASCIO published a briefing that details the potential benefits to its members of health information technology and offers best practices for state CIOs to get their organizations up to speed with ongoing national efforts, according to Government Health IT.

“We hope that this brief will jump-start thinking by state CIOs on this issue,” Charles Dawson, co-chair of NASCIO’s 2005-2006 Health IT Committee and New Jersey CIO, told Government Health IT.  “The train is leaving the station, but there is still time to catch it.”

NASCIO will also publish a survey next month that details states’ ongoing health IT efforts, Government Health IT reports.

“A part of our effort is to educate [those] CIOs that are not yet involved,” NASCIO’s Executive Director, Doug Robinson, told Government Health IT.  “We promote the benefits of enterprise architecture for states, and we believe a lot of this discipline can be applied to health IT.”

For related CIO coverage, read NYC Mayor Calls for E-Health Records.

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