[rninformatics]

Please provide comment from the Nursing perspective - see below

From: http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/document...hitepaper.html
White Paper
American Health Information Community Successor
July 2007
Introduction

American Health Information Community
The American Health Information Community (AHIC) is a federal advisory
body chartered in 2005 to make recommendations to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on how to accelerate
the development and adoption of health information technology. The
advisory nature of AHIC and its Workgroups has been invaluable in
creating a forum to seek input and guidance to understand key issues and
policy implications necessary to achieve President Bush's goal for most
Americans to have access to secure electronic health records by 2014.
The AHIC charter requires responsibilities to be transferred to a
successor. Therefore, the AHIC is embarking upon a project that will
take the Community to the next level. The AHIC successor will be an
independent and sustainable public-private partnership bringing together
the best attributes and resources of public and private entities. This
new public-private partnership will develop a unified approach to
realize an effective, interoperable nationwide health information
system[FN1] that supports the health and well-being of individuals and
communities in the U.S.

This white paper describes the vision for and attributes of a successor
to the American Health Information Community (AHIC). Specifically, it
describes the purpose and scope of a successor entity, presents
governance and operating objectives, and highlights several legal
considerations associated with the formation of the AHIC successor.[FN2]
The AHIC seeks public comment on the contents of this white paper.
Specific instructions for providing comments are available on the AHIC
successor web page:
http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/communit...successor.html.
Recognizing that interoperability is critical to realizing both
improvements in quality and efficiency in the U.S. health system, and
understanding the importance of continuity of leadership to maintaining
the AHIC's momentum toward achieving interoperability, the Health and
Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health
Information Technology (ONC) will engage with the private sector to
seamlessly transition the locus of activity from a Federal advisory
committee to an independent public-private partnership that is focused
on achieving interoperability across the health care system.
Between now and the Spring of 2008, AHIC members and AHIC Workgroups
will continue efforts to identify obstacles to the adoption of
interoperable health information technology (IT) and make specific
recommendations to the Secretary of (HHS). At the same time, HHS has
embarked upon an effort that will take AHIC to the next level by
facilitating the development of an independent public-private
partnership that is results-oriented, inclusive, and coordinated with
quality and transparency initiatives. The new entity will build on the
AHIC achievements and will require exceptional leadership as well as a
broad base of both public and private support to realize the vision of
an interoperable health care system.
The AHIC successor will bring together both public and private,
not-for-profit and for-profit entities that represent all sectors of the
health community. It is essential that the Federal government play a
substantial role in order to accelerate the emergence of an
interoperable nationwide health information system. Designing and
establishing an AHIC successor is neither an effort to privatize the
role of AHIC, nor is it Federal Government preemption. Instead, it is an
effort to establish a balanced, effective, public-private collaboration
among organizations and individuals in all sectors of the health
community.