Feds Seek Ideas For National Health-Data ExchangeFeds Seek Ideas For National Health-Data Exchange

The U.S. government is formally asking for health-care industry and public input on how the country can best achieve widespread interoperability of health IT and create a national electronic exchange for patient health data.

The office of National Health IT Coordinator Dr. David Brailer on Monday issued a formal public "request for information" or RFI, seeking input "regarding options to deploy, operate and sustain [a] health information exchange."

President Bush promised in April that most Americans will have an electronic health record by 2014 and ordered the creation of Brailer's sub-cabinet National Health IT Coordinator position to help achieve that goal.

The RFI, which expires on Jan. 18, 2005, says Brailer's office is seeking "perspective" and insight from health IT organizations, health-care providers, industry organizations, and other stakeholders, as well as suggestions from the general public.

A handful of regional health-information data exchanges already have been established in recent years in places like Santa Barbara County, Calif., and in Indiana, while others are under development in places like Massachusetts. A goal of the federal government is to create a National Health Information Network to facilitate secure nationwide sharing of electronic patient information.