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Chicago - The National Alliance for Health Information Technology (Alliance) is participating in an important project for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) to develop consensus-based definitions for key health information technology terms. Under the direction of management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE), the Alliance will create and secure industry endorsement of definitions for electronic health record (EHR), electronic medical record (EMR), personal health record (PHR), health information exchange (HIE) and regional health information organization (RHIO).

"A plethora of competing and confusing definitions, with terms often used interchangeably, is impeding progress in health information technology," says Karen M. Bell, MD, director of ONC's Office of Health IT Adoption. "A common understanding and use of terms are essential for facilitating IT adoption and innovation and achieving a useful exchange of health information to improve patient outcomes."

"With its proven consensus-building process that engages all sectors of the industry, the Alliance is ideally suited to help us reach broad agreement and endorsement of critical definitions among healthcare stakeholders, including legislators and policymakers," Bell adds.

The Alliance has developed a highly participatory approach to decision-making, generating solutions that are endorsed by its members from across healthcare and by other thought leaders. Using this successful approach, the Alliance established a widely adopted definition for healthcare interoperability that has been included in proposed legislation as well as revisions to the regulations governing Safe Harbor/Anti-kickback (aka Stark rules.) It also collaborated with peer organizations to found the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology and the EHR Collaborative.

As a first step in the definitions project, organizations may submit definitions for EHR, EMR, PHR, HIE and RHIO for consideration by November 2 at definitions.nahit.org The Alliance will simultaneously conduct a literature search to identify and categorize all known definitions of the terms.

To ensure broad participation, volunteer-based work groups will be formed that represent all healthcare segments and will be composed of experts and thought leaders with relevant experience and knowledge. Submissions for work group candidates will be accepted between November 5 and November 16, 2007 at definitions.nahit.org.

In addition, public forums will be convened to gather input in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Houston in December, January and February. Public comments also will be accepted throughout that period at definitions.nahit.org. This web site will feature additional collaboration and communication tools to provide more opportunities for all healthcare segments to contribute expertise to the consensus-building process.

"We are taking conscious steps to ensure we develop consensus-based terminologies that become tools for transforming healthcare," explains Scott Wallace, president and CEO of the Alliance. "We also think this project can set a precedent for other initiatives that demand broad healthcare industry participation and adoption."

Jane Horowitz, the Alliance's vice president and chief marketing officer, will lead the Alliance's contributions to the project. The Alliance is also partnering with technology infrastructure provider Burwood Group for collaboration tools and services. For more information, please visit definitions.nahit.org.

About the Alliance
The National Alliance for Health Information Technology is a diverse partnership of senior executives from all healthcare sectors working to advance the adoption of clinical information technology systems to achieve measurable improvements in patient safety, quality of care and operating performance. The Alliance collaborates with healthcare and government leaders to influence healthcare decision-makers to act effectively in creating an efficient, safe, unified, and inclusive health system possible. Since its founding in 2002, the Chicago-based Alliance has helped forge consensus and accelerate progress on such important initiatives as developing an industry-endorsed interoperability definition, creating a public directory of health IT standards and authoring Rules of Engagement: A proven path for instilling, and then installing a CPOE approach that works. The Alliance is a co-founder of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and its CEO chaired the Commission on Systemic Interoperability (CSI). More information about the Alliance is available at www.nahit.org.

About Burwood Group
Burwood was incorporated in September 1997 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL, with regional offices in Normal, IL, Silicon Valley, CA, St. Louis, MO, and Davenport, IA. The company has more than 80 employees and specializes in converged multi-media communications, web design and technology infrastructure support, security, wireless and route/switch and has earned the AHA's sole endorsement for strategic wireless consulting. Burwood Group delivers business-aligned, end-to-end solutions to organizations whose success depends on information technology. More information is available at www.burwood.com.