Vermont Governor Hosting State Alliance for eHealth Conference

Alliance Focusing on Improving Health Care Quality and Reducing Costs

August 15, 2007 -- Burlington, Vt. – Vermont Governor Jim Douglas today is hosting the quarterly meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA) State Alliance for eHealth in Burlington.

Article continues below...

The State Alliance for eHealth addresses health information technology (health IT) issues and challenges such as the electronic exchange of health information. The Alliance was established in 2006 to create state-based forums for improve health care quality and reduce costs.

Governor Douglas said this meeting of the Alliance is focused on issues related to improving electronic health information exchange in the United States, including: opportunities for publicly funded health programs; ways to preserve privacy and security protections while enabling electronic health information technology; ways to address identified licensure issues; and challenges to e-prescribing.

“The State Alliance for e-Health has been tasked with working toward interoperable, electronic health information exchange,” said Douglas. “It is a pleasure to bring the Alliance to Vermont to discuss the importance of electronic health records and state and national trends surrounding this critical issue.”

Douglas also showcased the work of the Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL) to develop Vermont’s health IT network and their collaboration with the Vermont Department of Health to provide a Chronic Care Information System for Vermont’s innovative Blueprint for Health.

“The Blueprint for Health is a key component of our health care reform for Vermonters,” said Douglas. “The Blueprint has put Vermont at the forefront of health care - advancing innovative solutions and providing support to help doctors and patients effectively manage chronic disease. And ultimately, the success of the Blueprint—and our ability to make health care more affordable—will depend in large part on the use of health information technology across the state, which is why the efforts of the State Alliance to address challenges to the adoption of health IT are so critical.”

Governor Douglas was selected as co-chair of the project along with Governor Phil Bredesen (D-Tennessee) on Nov. 6, 2006. Governor Bredesen is also attending the daylong meeting being held at the Hilton Hotel in Burlington.

Source: Vermont Governor