It's time to unleash the NHIN

[Commentary] The HITECH stimulus funds have created great buzz in health and health IT. Providers are contemplating electronic medical record (EMR) implementations, vendors are scurrying to be "meaningful use" compliant, and states and others are planning for Medicaid, health information exchange, training and other related services. This environment should be ripe for movement, yet there are numerous signs that the movement that comes will be begrudging and fragmented - not the kind explosive, coordinating movement that has characterized other major information technology advancements like the Internet. Projections for physician adoption rates, the timeframe expressed by the "meaningful use" phases, and the push-back received on the first "meaningful use" criteria all point to such a trajectory. It is time to unleash the NHIN and let it develop into the "killer app" that can actually help draw in participants and make meaningful outcomes attainable.