Association members to collaborate on numerous activities related to EHR certification, interoperability, standards, quality and advocacy

ORLANDO (Feb. 24, 2008) — Demonstrating its continued commitment to collaborate in accelerating the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), the HIMSS Electronic Health Record Vendors Association (EHRVA), a trade association of EHR vendors that represents the majority of installed EHR systems in the United States, are working together on strategic initiatives during the 2008 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 24-28.

“In the year since HIMSS07 in New Orleans, EHRVA members have delivered on the promise of interoperability, with many of their customers seeing very real improvements in quality and efficiency.  We’ve been ‘walking the talk’ so now it’s time to get the word out at this year’s conference,” said Don Schoen, EHRVA chair and CEO of MediNotes, an ambulatory EHR provider in Des Moines, Iowa. 

“Our coalition, representing the interests of thousands of provider organizations across the US, has become the ‘go-to’ organization to provide guidance to the health information technology (HIT) industry from the EHR perspective.  We published the Quick Start Guide for the ASTM/HL7 Continuity of Care Document (CCD), which is available to the entire industry.  We provided commentary on important industry issues such as Stark relaxation.  A dedicated team from EHRVA member firms coordinates detailed consensus recommendations on CCHIT certification criteria and HITSP’s interoperability use cases.  And we have directly engaged the Office of the National Coordinator as well as congressional and state leadership to shape policies that accelerate the adoption of interoperable EHRs.”

Membership activities during the HIMSS Annual Conference this year include:

• A full membership meeting with keynote speaker, Dr. Robert Kolodner, the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Coordinator for HIT.
• The EHRVA Quality Leadership Forum, a first-of-its-kind HIMSS event to review with invited guests the status of various initiatives related to clinical decision support and performance reporting, the potential impact on providers and vendors, the current role of EHR vendors in these activities, and opportunities for further engagement.
• EHRVA will participate in the IHE Showcase in the HIMSS Exhibit Hall (booth #7363) all week to highlight their collaborative work in achieving interoperability. 
• EHRVA members will meet with Dr. Mark Leavitt, Chair, CCHIT and Alisa Ray, Executive Director, CCHIT, to discuss the EHR certification process.
• The membership also has meetings with John Halamka, MD, Chair, Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP); Leroy Jones, Principle, IHEA; the National Governors’ Association (NGA), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the HL7 Board of Directors and the NCQA-AMA Collaborative to discuss opportunities of mutual interest. 

“The ability of the HIMSS EHRVA membership to speak with a unified voice on critical issues that have potential impact on all EHR vendors in a collaborative and non-competitive spirit has been very impressive,” stated H. Stephen Lieber, HIMSS president and CEO.  “The HIMSS EHRVA is well positioned to be influential on the important government, provider, payer, consumer and HIT industry initiatives that are driving our shared objectives to accelerate the adoption of health information technology.”

Please visit www.himssehrva.org for more information on HIMSS EHRVA or to download the CCD Quick Start Guide or the EHRVA’s Interoperability Roadmap.  Both are available at no charge.