The Gary and Mary West Health Institute and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced they will co-host HCI-DC 2014: Igniting an Interoperable Health Care System, a Feb. 6, 2014 conference in Washington, D.C. to bring together key stakeholders driving medical interoperability to improve patient care and lower health care costs.
Medical interoperability, the ability for health information to be seamlessly shared among medical devices and enterprise health systems, and then used by health care providers to optimize health care, continues to be a challenge in the United States. While significant progress has been made, new solutions for medical interoperability are appearing in a wide variety of health care settings. The HCI-DC 2014 conference will provide an important venue for stakeholders like providers, payers, vendors and health systems to collaborate and partner on solutions to achieve interoperability in ways that improve patient care.
“We know that interoperable information technology and device innovation can help to improve quality and patient safety across the health care system and for each individual patient,” said Farzad Mostashari, M.D., national coordinator for health IT. “We are excited at the opportunity to partner with the West Health Institute to bring together leaders in health care to explore our progress, potential and possible solutions to enable us all to achieve medical interoperability.”
Now in its fourth year, the West Health Institute’s Health Care Innovation series in Washington, D.C. (HCI-DC) convenes policy makers and the public and private sectors to discuss innovative solutions to our nation’s health care cost challenges.
“West Health is committed to driving demand for an interoperable health care environment through research, education and advocacy,” said Nicholas Valeriani, chief executive officer of the West Health Institute. “We are looking forward to our collaboration with ONC on our next Health Care Innovation meeting where health care thought leaders will convene to advance interoperability as the cornerstone of a safer and more cost effective health care delivery system.”
The full-day conference will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014. There is no charge for the conference. It is open to policy makers, federal agencies, advocacy organizations, business leaders, business development executives and product and technology specialists with a focus on or interest in health care information technology, particularly in the area of medical interoperability.
Please visit www.hcidc.org for more information, and follow the conversation at #IGNITEinterop and #HCIDC on Twitter.
ABOUT THE WEST HEALTH INSTITUTE
The Gary and Mary West Health Institute is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) medical research organization whose mission is to lower health care costs by developing innovative patient-centered solutions that deliver the right care at the right place at the right time. This is accomplished by conducting innovative medical research, educating key stakeholders and advocating on behalf of patients. Solely funded by pioneering philanthropists Gary and Mary West, the Institute is part of West Health, an initiative combining four separate organizations – the Gary and Mary West Health Institute, the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center, the Gary and Mary West Health Investment Fund, and the West Health Incubator. The Institute is located in San Diego, California, the global center for health care innovation. For more information, find us at www.westhealth.org and follow us @westhealth.
ABOUT ONC
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is at the forefront of the administration’s health IT efforts and is a resource to the entire health system to support the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care. ONC is organizationally located within the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ONC is the principal federal entity charged with coordination of nationwide efforts to implement and use the most advanced health information technology and the electronic exchange of health information. The position of National Coordinator was created in 2004, through an Executive Order, and legislatively mandated in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009.