Local Government Task Force on Health Care Technology
Local government officials interested in harnessing the power of information technology to improve management and delivery of health care services convened at the inaugural meeting of the PTI Task Force on Health Care Technology for Cities & Counties, March 2, 2007 during the National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference in Washington, DC.
PTI launched the Task Force to serve as a resource for local government officials responsible for implementing technology solutions in the management of health care services.
PTI is a non-profit technology research and development organization created by and for cities and counties. NACo has joined PTI as a partner in this new endeavor. NACo is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States.
Many local governments face a growing crisis in providing health care services to residents, particularly when it comes to using technology to better manage those services. This crisis not only involves HIPAA compliance, but the ability to store and share sensitive medical records among various authorized individuals and entities. The issue covers far more than just records management and automation as it must take into account: safety, confidentiality, access, storage, interoperability between disparate systems, system architecture, budgeting and more.
Task Force Chair Alisoun Moore, former CIO of Montgomery County, Maryland opened the meeting by providing an overview of the status of health care management in the U.S. Ms. Moore described the impact that rapidly escalating health care costs are having on the nation’s productivity; how the lack of technology practices has led to poor service delivery, ineffective communications and information-sharing between agencies, health care providers, and the patient; and how the implementation of tried technology solutions can help reduce the burden of the rising cost of healthcare has placed on local government.
Dr. Alan Shark, Executive Director of PTI, then facilitated a discussion where the Task Force identified objectives and outcomes, and laid out an action plan for Task Force activities in 2007:
- The Task Force will work closely with NACo and other organizations to provide resources, information and best-practice examples to utilize when talking with legislative leaders about health care issues impacting counties.
- The Task Force will develop white papers, position papers, articles, a speakers’ bureau and editorial content that will raise awareness of how effective deployment of technology applications and management practices can positively impact the delivery of health care services.
- PTI will create a repository on the PTI website (www.pti.org) that will include case study examples from local governments across the country, links to other resources, and a web-based discussion list. PTI will also expand its annual awards programs to include a category for health care I.T.
- The Task Force will work with the private sector, federal and state agencies, and other city/county organizations to share expertise, identify issues and develop demonstration projects to help promote the deployment information technology solutions in health care services.
The presentation from the March 2, 2007 meeting of the Task Force is at this link.
Local government officials interested in using information technology to improve the delivery of health care services are invited to join the Task Force. Contact PTI’s Dale Bowen, dbowen@pti.org for more information.
The next meeting of the Task Force will take place during the PTI 2007 Technology Leadership Conference, May 6-8 in Denver, Colorado.
03-06-2007 Send a link Health Care IT Print version
