EU-USA Cooperation on eHealth: Addressing Common Challenges. Friedman C. eHealth week 2010 (Barcelona: CCIB Convention Centre; 2010)

1. EU-US Cooperation on eHealth:
Addressing Common Challenges
Charles P. Friedman, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT
Department of Health and Human Services
U.S.A.

2. This Presentation
• Very quick review of recent eHealth/ICT
developments in the US
• Two specific areas of opportunity for EU-US
cooperation:
– Standards and interoperability
– Metrics to assess progress

3. American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA) & the HITECH Act (Feb 2009)
3

4. HITECH Act Implementation
Regional extension centers
Adoption of EHRs
Workforce training
•Improved individual and
population health
Medicare & Medicaid Meaningful Use outcomes
Incentives and penalties of EHRs •Increased transparency
and efficiency
State grants for health •Improved ability to study
Information exchange and improve care delivery
Standards & certification Exchange of health
framework information
Privacy & Security
framework
Research to enhance HIT
Blumenthal D. Launching HITECH. N Engl J Med. 2010 Jan 4.
http://healthcarereform.nejm.org/?p=2669

5. EU-US Collaboration…
• Paris conference 2008: We are facing the
same challenges in eHealth/ICT
• Benefits of collaboration:
– Mutual learning
– Sharing of technology and best practices
– Comparison of progress
– Trans-Atlantic (global?) secure data mobility
• Public health
• Clinical research
• We need collaborations that scale!

6. Interoperability and Meaningful Use

7. Metrics
• Many nations are measuring their progress
• Need “apples to apples” ability to compare
• We are working through the OECD
– To identify a (small) set of common survey items
– Allowing continuity of current practices

8. EHR Use in U.S. Office-based Physicians
dashed = 2009 Preliminary est.
Source: CDC/NCHS National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/emr_ehr/emr_ehr.htm

9. Taking Discussion to Action…