Page 24 - Health Literacy, eHealth, and Communication: Putting the Consumer First: Workshop Summary

Health Literacy, eHealth, and Communication: Putting the Consumer First: Workshop Summary

oveRvieW oF iSSUeS

description of stages), 68 were in the process of implementation (stage
3 or 4), 32 were operational (stage 5, 6, or 7), 5 were no longer moving
forward, and 5 organizations did not respond to the stage of develop-
ment question. Thirty of the initiatives that responded to the 2006 survey
reported advances in their stage of development (eHealth Initiative and
Foundation for eHealth Initiative, 2008b). While some of these initiatives
have not been successful, there are a number that have progressed well.
At the same time, there are more efforts directed at consumer-facing
applications, which is an entirely different model from the provider-
centric initiatives.
Congress has introduced bills over the last several years that were
intended to address key barriers to health IT adoption. During 2007 more
than 19 bills related to health IT were introduced both in the House and
Senate, most notably the Wired for Health Care Quality Act of 2007 (S.
1693), approved by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions in August 2007, and a companion bill introduced in
the House in early October 2007, both of which include several provisions
related to health IT (Marchibroda, 2008).
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has also played
a leadership role in moving the health IT agenda forward by emphasizing
its four cornerstones of value-driven health care which are to

• adopt interoperable health information technology (health IT
standards);
• measure and publish quality information (quality standards);
• measure and publish price information (price standards); and
• promote quality and efficiency of care (incentives) (HHS, 2006).

The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology has made a number of efforts aimed at health IT standards
harmonization, standards certification, and trial implantation of health
IT prototypes. More work remains to be accomplished, however, particu-
larly in the area of modifying payment strategies to reward those health
IT initiatives that are accomplishing more rather than just doing more.
A number of individual states have also gotten involved, with executive
orders and legislative activities at the state level.
Marchibroda concluded that, given the momentum of health IT, it is
now a time of tremendous opportunity to develop eHealth systems that
can address health literacy issues. At the same time, if such issues are
not attended to, the creation of eHealth and health information applica-
tions may actually exacerbate existing problems, rather than providing a
mechanism to help solve them.

Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.