Nurses Claim Their Seat at the Health IT Decision-Making Table

Many of the policy discussions about health IT appear to focus almost exclusively on how such systems might affect physicians and physician workflow. We're hearing a lot about computerized physician order entry systems, physician performance measurement and physician incentives for electronic health record adoption. But what about nurses? Although they might not get as much press time, nurses are actively taking a seat at the table and participating in federal discussions about best practices, standards and the meaningful use of EHRs. Organizations such as the Alliance for Nursing Informatics, the National League for Nursing and TIGER (Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform) have been working furiously behind the scenes to get nurses on the frontlines of the health IT debates. As a result of their efforts, the Health IT Policy Committee and the Health IT Standards Committee both count a nurse among their ranks. Through such representation, nurses are beginning to have a greater say in how federal health IT standards might shape up.