New Hampshire’s Gov. Lynch to Address eHealth Learning Forum

WASHINGTON, April 5 /PRNewswire/ — The strength of top executive support at the state and regional level of electronic health information exchange will be underscored by New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch as keynote speaker at the eHealth Initiative’s Third Annual Connecting Communities Learning Forum in Washington, D.C. April 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

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New Hampshire is among 13 state and regional health information initiatives to benefit from eHealth Initiative’s (eHI’s) direct technical assistance through its State and Regional Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Initiative. eHI, the non-profit, independent leader in the drive to improve access to safe, efficient, quality healthcare using electronic information exchange, is assisting the New Hampshire Citizen’s Initiative on Health and the UNH New Hampshire Health Care Interconnectivity Project to develop shared principles and strategies for improving health and healthcare through the use of health information technology.

“My goal for New Hampshire is that 10 years from now we will still be one of the healthiest states in the nation, more of our citizens will have access to quality health care and the growth in health care costs will be in line with the growth in our economy,” Gov. Lynch said. “Technology can be a powerful tool in turning that vision into a reality, and the Citizens Health Initiative is working to develop systems to ensure that patients are getting the best standards of care, to encourage pay for performance, to reduce administrative costs, and to reduce medial errors.”

Through its State and Regional HIT Policy Initiative, eHI is assisting the New Hampshire collaborative effort to create a roadmap for a statewide health information sharing network. Based on eHI’s experience working with initiatives at the local, state and regional levels, eHI is lending support to the development of essential research and reports.

“While standards and policies are emerging to build a nation-wide system of interconnected health information exchange, each state or region has its own stakeholders and market characteristics to take into account,” said Janet Marchibroda, eHI’s chief executive officer. “Our work with New Hampshire as part of the State and Regional HIT Policy Initiative is an opportunity to apply a proven methodology for research, planning and development. Through that work New Hampshire will develop its own unique system for health information exchange, built on eHI’s breadth of experience in this arena.”

Gov. Lynch’s keynote will outline New Hampshire’s Citizens Health Initiative and how it is working to bring technological innovations to the state’s health care system as part of its overall efforts to increase quality and access while controlling the growth in costs. eHI is currently completing research to develop a summary of the views of New Hampshire key stakeholders about the opportunities and challenges they currently experience relating to health information technology and health information exchange in the state.

“We will also prepare a New Hampshire-specific briefing paper which positions their initiative in the context of the national landscape and principles and activities we see emerging in other state and regional initiatives,” said Emily Welebob, RN, MS, vice president of programs for eHI. “eHI will also provide expert assistance for a New Hampshire State Summit in June after the initial research and assessment is complete. We look forward to sharing the information with all of New Hampshire’s stakeholders in health information exchange.”

Gov. Lynch will take the podium for his keynote at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 11 at the Learning Forum. The Connecting Communities Program, conducted by the eHealth Initiative Foundation (eHI) with funding support from a cooperative agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration, provides seed funding and technical support to the more than 200 multi-stakeholder collaboratives within states, regions, and communities which are using electronic health information exchange and other information technology tools to drive improvements in healthcare quality, safety and efficiency. The Learning Forum is a unique opportunity for practitioners and leaders in these collaboratives to identify common principles to advance their work, as well as strategies to tackle common issues — clinical, financial, legal, organizational, and technical.

Since 2004, eHI and its Foundation have been providing a range of activities to states and regions towards improving health and healthcare through health information technology and health information exchange. In its work over the years at both the national and local levels, eHI has developed resources and tools designed to support the many stakeholders in this effort to navigate the organizational, legal, financial, clinical and technical aspects of health information exchange. The State and Regional initiative currently brings these resources to 13 state and regional markets across the country.

More information on the program and registration is available http://www.ccbh.ehealthinitiative.org/ccbhconference.

About eHealth Initiative and its Foundation

The eHealth Initiative and its Foundation are independent, non-profit affiliated organizations who engage the multiple stakeholders in healthcare, including clinicians, employers, health plans, healthcare IT suppliers, hospitals, laboratories, patient groups, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, pharmacies, and public health agencies, to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology.

For more information, go to http://www.ehealthinitiative.org/.

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eHealth Initiative

CONTACT: Karla Hurter, +1-703-319-0957, khurter@health2resources.com,for eHealth Initiative

Web site: http://www.ehealthinitiative.org/