Blumenthal: Diverse HIE methods will emerge

Health information exchange will spring from a variety of sources and methods beyond the federal government's work to set-up a nationwide health information network (NHIN), Dr. David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health IT, said. Standards for interoperability will be the key to collecting data once for many uses of HIE, including clinical treatment, comparative effectiveness research, bio-surveillance, medical safety and post-marketing surveillance of new medications, the health IT leader said. The Office of the National Coordinator will produce regulations by the end of this month with standards and certification criteria for electronic health records, he said. The regulation will include definitions of data elements that EHRs must be capable of reporting.