U.S.-U.K. Health IT Collaboration is Official!

Desereé JohnstonOSEHRA is pleased to have participated in early planning meetings for a bilateral agreement signed on January 23, 2014, by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.K. Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt.  Intended to strengthen the healthcare systems of both countries, the agreement calls for collaboration within health information technology, specifically the sharing of information, tools, and strategies. 

The agreement outlines specific focal areas: Sharing Quality Indicators, Liberating Data and Putting It to Work, Priming the Health IT Market, and most significantly for OSEHRA-- Adopting Digital Health Record Systems. The agreement emphasizes the desire of both nations to implement digital health record systems in the future, highlighting the success of OSEHRA’s members and partners.  For this accomplishment, the open source community should be proud.

Full text of the bilateral agreement can be found here: http://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/hhsnhs_mou_final_jan_21.pdf

More information is provided in this press release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2014pres/01/20140123a.html