Health Information Technology - A Glossary

Health Information Technology: A Glossary If you’re writing about electronic health records, you’ll want to get familiar with these terms, defined by veteran health information technology journalist Neil Versel. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA): The $787 billion economic stimulus legislation enacted in February 2009. Electronic health record (EHR): At least in theory, an EHR is a comprehensive digital collection of information about an individual’s health and medical status that encompasses multiple care settings. It often is used interchangeably with EMR. Electronic medical record (EMR): This term generally refers to a record tied to a single facility or organization. Health information exchange (HIE): As a verb, it refers to the secure transfer of electronic health information between organizations. As a noun, HIE is a network that facilitates data transfer. Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH): The portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act related to health IT. Meaningful Use: The standard that doctors and hospitals will have to meet to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid bonus payments for using electronic records beginning in 2011. Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN): This is the name for the federal government’s future vision of a kind of health-specific version of the Internet, essentially a decentralized network of HIEs. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC): Created by executive order in 2004 and codified by the ARRA legislation in 2009, this office within the Department of Health and Human Services provides health IT leadership within the federal government and helps craft health IT policy. Personal health record (PHR): This term denotes a record that patients can view, update and control who access to. Though there are many companies offering PHRs, consumer and physician acceptance is minimal. Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO): This term was popular in the mid-to-late 2000s, but mostly has been superseded by “HIE.”