This initial pilot is planned to begin in mid-December 2009.

“Utilizing the NHIN’s standards and network will allow organizations like the VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to partner with private sector healthcare providers to promote care for Veterans,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki.

Last week, the VA and Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente sent a joint invitation letter to veterans in the San Diego area who receive care from both institutions to participate in this pilot program.

The pilot program connects Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect and the VA’s EHR system, VistA.

The program puts the highest priority on patient privacy and data security, and no exchange of information will occur without the explicit permission of the individual patient. Patient information will not be shared without first obtaining their consent.

The VA, DoD and HHS have been working closely to create a system that will modernize the way healthcare is delivered and benefits are administered. DoD will be included in the next phase of the pilot program in early 2010.

Above article published http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=19731:va-kaiser-permanente-invite-veterans-to-pilot-program

Health Level Seven has published the health IT industry’s first ANSI-approved standard for using EHR information in clinical research. The standard–known as Electronic Health Record Clinical Research Functional Profile and based on the HL7 EHR System Functional Model Release 1–is a roadmap for integrating data to support both patient care and clinical research processes, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based standards organization says.

The standard is the result of two years of work by representatives of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, health IT, clinical research IT and regulatory community in the U.S. and Europe. “This profile is an excellent demonstration of how important functional requirements for secondary data use, such as clinical research, can be integrated into the patient care work flow and documented in EHR systems,” says Donald Mon, vice president of practice leadership at the American Health Information Management Association and co-chair of the HL7 EHR Work Group.

HL7 says the standard is intended to complement the EHR-Clinical Research specification that the Health Information Technology Standards Panel is developing. It also will serve as a resource for the Clinical Research Work Group of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, which is working to include clinical research criteria in CCHIT’s EHR certification program.

Above article published http://www.fierceemr.com/story/hl7-finalizes-standard-ehrs-clinical-research/2009-11-12