CHICAGO, February 2-- Increased support for adoption of technology and data content standards are needed to achieve the President's plan to "expand the use of electronic health records and other health information technologies to reduce costs and help prevent dangerous medical errors," according to two leading health information professional associations.

In a letter to President Bush, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) praised the President's continued attention health IT and the measurable progress being made, but asked for his vocal and active support to move forward some specific action items needed to accelerate the adoption of a nationwide system of interoperable EHRs.

The two groups urged the President to increase support and efforts to formally adopt EHR standards for use in the healthcare industry that ensure a complete, legal, and uniform health record and to accelerate efforts to upgrade and ensure the coordination of health information data standards including classifications,

terminologies, and vocabularies. Such action should include:

-Continuance of the SNOMED-CT© contract for a clinical terminology that will serve as the foundation for the standard EHR and expanded for availability as Medline is today

-The immediate adoption of the ICD-10 classification system with an implementation deadline no later than 2009

-Additional funding for the National Library of Medicine to ensure that approved
vocabulary and other data content standards are maintained, coordinated, and updated regularly

"These actions will not only facilitate national adoption of EHRs but also support national efforts to improve biosurveillance, improve healthcare quality, and keep America competitive with other nations," said Don E. Detmer, MD, MA, AMIA President and CEO.

The groups also called for the President to actively call for the House to pass S. 306, the "Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act," as a step to convincing
the American public that they have nothing to fear in the adoption and use of
electronic health records and nationwide health information networks and to support increased funding for education and training in healthcare informatics and information management.

"It will take an increasingly large, educated, and diverse workforce to ensure
proper management and use of electronic health systems and networks," said Linda

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