Partnerships between states and the federal government in the immediate future are viewed as critical to the success of national efforts for transformation to a value-driven healthcare system, according to a report by the Foundation of Research and Education (FORE) of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

“HIE initiatives all have a mission of improving quality through sound information practices; quality/transparency initiatives require accurate information. These two cornerstones of a value-based healthcare system must be coordinated at federal, state and local levels, and across the public and private sectors,” Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, FAHIMA, CEO of AHIMA’s, in a statement. “This is a very critical moment in time to achieve a coordinated strategy that will use information to improve care and help people make informed choices.”

The organizations issued the following recommendations:

• 1. The federal government should consolidate oversight of health IT and quality/transparency initiatives under AHIC (American Health Information Community);
• 2. AHIC should transition to a public-private organization by 2008;
• 3. Each state should establish or designate a consolidated, public-private health transformation governance mechanism that includes at least health information exchange and quality/transparency; and
• 4. The federal government should fund transformation efforts through or under the guidance of formally recognized health transformation entities in each state and provide leadership through CMS.

“There is urgency to these recommendations because states are full participants in the health IT transformation,” adds Laura L. Adams, member of the projects Steering Committee and CEO of Rhode Island Quality Institute. “The recommendations outlined are integrative strategies to prompt a healthy and public discussion about how to coordinate national and state efforts—public and private—to transform healthcare through information.”

The full report is available at: http://www.staterhio.org