California Order Supports Health Information Technology (HIT)
Gov. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order last week to increase the adoption of health information technology in the State of California. The intent of this effort is to improve the quality of and access to healthcare for California residents and increase the transparency of both healthcare quality and pricing.
The key strategies in the executive order include the creation of a workgroup charged with developing a strategy to meet the goals of increased quality, transparency, and accountability; and an outline of activities to facilitate adoption of health information technology.
The Governor released a plan (pdf) in January 2007 to improve healthcare throughout the State. California previously established a goal of statewide EHR implementation within the next ten years; including healthcare providers, insurance payers, patients, and the government. Electronic prescribing capabilities are required for providers by 2010 under the plan.
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March 20, 2007 Related topics: Legal & legislative, Standardization, Policies & Procedures, IT & software