Colleagues,
HHS updates its
Strategic Plan every three years, and sets out its goals for the next five years. The document serves as its primary statement of policy and budget priorities ... In this historic period of transformation, it is worth a quick read by all those interested in Health IT and the American healthcare delivery system ...
... The draft emphasizes adoption of
health information technology and the fostering of innovation ... Click the following hyperlink to see the 114-page
Draft Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2010-2015...
... The new sets forth the following overarching goals for the next five years:
• Transform Health Care
• Advance Scientific Knowledge and Innovation
• Advance the Health, Safety, and Well-Being
• Increase Efficiency, Transparency, and Accountability
• Strengthen the Nation’s Health and Human Services Infrastructure and Workforce
...The plan describes Health IT (HIT) adoption as being at the heart of efforts to transform health care. Adding functionality to Electronic Health Records (EHR)s and Personal Health Records(PHR)s, HIT will be used to improve the
quality of care, reduce costs and paperwork, expand access to care, improve public health, and support reformed payment structures...
... Specifically, HHS seeks to establish new payment and delivery systems that value primary care, promote prevention & wellness; develop programs that expand the primary care workforce and encourage health care providers to practice in health professional shortage areas...
... HHS will also support patient-centered research; institute reforms that encourage care coordination; and reduce disparities associated with patients’ gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status...
... To help foster innovation, the department intends to
develop and deliver “computerized geography-based inventories of patient care services” to help patients determine what services are available at each site and how far they need to travel to nearby sites...
... HHS also plans to draw on innovative
technologies such as Web 2.0 to collaborate and develop solutions ... This includes blogging to rate and rank ideas and priorities, crowdsourcing to identify public opinion and preferences, group collaboration tools such as file-sharing services, idea-generation tools, mobile technologies such as text messaging, and online competitions ...
See Public Comments submitted for the Plan at:
http://www.hhs.gov/open/discussion/strategicplan.htmlENJOY!
CC
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