The role of government includes informing Americans about health IT and enabling them to become more active participants in their own heath care.
Resources in this section help you understand both the impact and the benefits of health IT, as well as government protections for your privacy and personal health information.
Digital tools allow you to get more involved in the care of your family or your own.
Digital Tools
Digital tools let you take the initiative in a variety of ways to become more involved in your own health care:
- Create your personal health record (PHR) and reap the benefits of tracking your own health care
- Monitor the progress of your health
- Practice good personal health information hygiene to minimize the risk of personal information security breaches
- Discuss the use of electronic health records (EHRs) with your doctor, pharmacist, or health insurance company
- Stay on top of health IT developments: sign up for news alerts and/or connect with other health IT users to share information and personal health IT experiences.
Government Resources & Events
The Federal government spearheads the adoption of health IT as well as protects your privacy and personal health information by:
- Outlining a pathway to full adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) nationwide
- Coordinating the development of health IT standards to harmonize systems integration and usability across health care entities
- Certifying health IT products to guarantee a minimum quality of performance and care
- Establishing standards of meaningful use to ensure health IT delivers on its promise of improved care and cost savings
- Incentivizing EHR implementation to facilitate and accelerate adoption
- Protecting Americans’ privacy rights and the integrity of their personal information
- Facilitating the training of new health IT workers to meet growing demand.
Legal Rules & Legislation
Final legislation and regulations pertaining to health IT, privacy rights, and personal information security are available to the public on the Internet.
Privacy and confidentially rights include:
- HIPAA Privacy Rule
- HIPAA Security Rule
- Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA)
- Federal Trades Commission (FTC) Health Breach Notification Rule
- Health IT adoption and funding
- The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act
- Meaningful Use Definition and Criteria
- Health IT Certification standards
- Standards & Certification Criteria
Consumer Organizations, Universities & Foundations
Numerous non-government organizations actively participated in the adoption of health IT. They offer additional resources about health IT and its role in modernizing America’s health care system.
- Find out what consumer organizations say about health IT
- Get additional facts and figures on the impact and benefits of health IT
- See how some organizations have joined forces with State and Federal government to build consensus on standards and certification
- Access free Web resources provided by private-public partnerships to help you to better manage your health.