Advancement of Electronic Health Records, e-Prescribing and Connectivity

The Center for Health Transformation has a very robust health information technology project which is helping to:

• Drive adoption of electronic health records and health IT. Reach consensus and convergence on data standards for interoperability, facilitated by the federal government
• Facilitate research of de-identified clinical data for new treatments, health management, and trends.
• Engage consumers on using health IT in their health and healthcare management.

Part of this strategy includes the advancement of electronic health records and the acceleration of e-prescribing. To this end, the Center recently created a Georgia e-prescribing working group which is dedicated to addressing the challenges and creating opportunities for the widespread adoption of e-prescribing. The working group has identified the following challenges:

• the importance of educational programs for healthcare professionals as well as health plan administrators;
• the development and implementation of incentives to drive adoption of e-prescribing strategies;
• the issues of high-speed internet availability particularly in rural Georgia;
• the costs of e-prescribing and who should bear those costs; and,
• the identification and selection of pilot project(s) for e-prescribing.

Click here for more information on the Georgia e-prescribing working group (E-Rx2) including individuals who serve on the working group and editorials on e-prescribing produced by the Center.