Broadening the View of Interoperability to include Person-Centeredness

Excerpt

Over the past decade, through both deliberate policy and programmatic action, the nation has made significant progress in the adoption and use of health information technology (IT). The pace of this progress accelerated dramatically beginning in 2009 with the passage and implementation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. Prior to that time, though there were certainly aspirational programs and communities, the adoption and use of health IT sharing among and between key stakeholders, including clinicians, hospitals, consumers, and others, was only just beginning and was moving slowly. Since then, we have seen significant increases in the adoption and use of certified technology among eligible professionals and hospitals. Three-quarters of eligible professionals and nine in ten eligible hospitals have received incentive payments from the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs. This progress is the result of public-private partnerships supported through a set of grant programs such as the Regional Extension Centers and the Electronic Health Care Record Incentive Programs. …