Strategies for Optimizing Secondary Use of Data Through Health Information Exchange
Federal stimulus funding is accelerating adoption of electronic medical records and investment in regional health information exchanges. These efforts will create a vast array of new electronic health data that could be invaluable for clinical research, care coordination, public health surveillance, safety monitoring, and public policy. Nevertheless, paving a path for secondary uses of electronic health data will require resolving policy issues around interoperability standards, data sharing rules, and privacy protections. In this roundtable, David Blumenthal and colleagues from the Office of the National Health IT Coordinator discussed strategies for accelerating health information exchange and enabling future secondary use initiatives with representatives from pharmaceutical firms, health insurance plans, and health care delivery systems.