Health information technology (HIT) is using computers to store, protect, retrieve and transfer information electronically within health care settings. The potentials of HIT are to:
- Reduce medication errors
- Increase sharing of health information between providers, laboratories, pharmacies and patients
- Ensure safer patient transitions between health care settings
- Reduce duplicative and unnecessary testing
A special consideration in the use of HIT is to ensure privacy and security of electronic health information as information is maintained and transmitted electronically.
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Tools
AHRQ National Resource Center Evaluation Toolkit
Web site
Helps with the process of creating a plan to evaluate a health information technology project.
AHRQ National Resource Center for Health Information Technology
Web site
Provides information meant assist health care providers adopt and use health information technology. Includes documents, Web links, funded HIT project outcomes, and funding opportunity announcements.
Broadband Opportunities for Rural America
Web site
Provides a clearinghouse of information and resources on broadband opportunities for rural America.
CMS EHR Meaningful Use Overview
Web site
Discusses the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, which provide a financial incentive for the "meaningful use" of certified EHR technology to achieve health and efficiency goals.
CMS Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs
Web site
Provides information about the Electronic Health Record (EHR) incentive programs (HITECH programs) offered by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Includes the definition of "Meaningful Use" that outlines the requirements needed to receive EHR incentive payments.
CMS Sponsored ICD-10 Teleconferences
Web site
Presents a list of archived teleconferences discussing the change to ICD-10 for medical diagnosis and inpatient procedure coding.
Connecting Communities
Web site
Addresses the challenges rural communities face in adopting information technology tools and infrastructure. Curriculum is part of the National e-Commerce Extension Initiative Learning Center.
EHR Selection Toolkit for Community Health Centers
Web site
Provides a list of criteria to review with vendors of EHR systems to insure the unique needs of community health centers (CHCs) are met.
FCC Rural Health Care Pilot Program
Web site
Strives to create a nationwide broadband network that connects public and private non-profit health care providers in rural and urban locations.
Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration Toolkit
Web site
Provides guidance for conducting organization-level assessments of business practices, policies, and State laws that govern the privacy and security of health information exchange (HIE).
Health Information Technology Costs & Benefits Database Project
Web site
Designed to find reported outcomes from the published literature (from 1995 to 2003) on the costs and benefits (i.e., return on investment) of HIT. Searchable interface allows easy look up, and articles are abstracted in case users do not have access to the journals' full content.
Health Information Technology State Profiles
Web site
Collections of health information technology (HIT) resources for each state.
Health Information Technology Toolkit for Critical Access and Small Hospitals
Web site
Provides critical access and small hospitals numerous resources in health information technology (HIT), including tools for telehealth, health information exchange, and personal health records.
Health Information Technology Toolkit for Home Health Agencies
Web site
Designed for use in implementing or overhauling a home health agency Health Information Technology (HIT) or Electronic Health Record system and to evaluate system effectiveness.
Health Information Technology Toolkit for Nursing Homes
Web site
Designed for use in implementing Health Information Technology or Electronic Health Record system in a nursing home and to evaluate system effectiveness.
Health Information Technology Toolkit: Federal HIT Resources for Rural Health Care Providers
Web site
Offers federal resources to guide rural health facilities and providers through the phases of choosing, implementing and operating HIT systems.
Health IT - Meaningful Use Resources
Web site
Resource devoted to helping hospital leaders better understand the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health records incentive programs and their associated "meaningful use" requirements.
Health IT Implementation Stories
Web site
Stories and lessons learned from AHRQ-funded health information technology (HIT) projects. Includes rural projects.
Health IT in Small and Rural Communities
Web site
Provides background information, current activities, emerging lessons, and projects funded by AHRQ.
Health IT Tools
Web site
A collection of tools that describe and recommend strategies for addressing some of the common challenges organizations encounter when working with health IT systems.
Health IT Workforce Curriculum Components: National Training and Dissemination Center
Web site
Includes building blocks for health information technology (HIT) courses at community colleges and universities. To access the free materials, users must set up a profile.
HRSA: Health Information Technology
Web site
Provides health information technology resources regarding coordination of care and meaningful users of electronic health records.
HRSA: Rural Health IT Toolbox
Web site
Presents resources for implementing and adopting health IT systems. Focuses on rural providers such as Rural Health Clinics and Critical Access Hospitals. Includes information on networking and collaboration, management and staffing, finance, selection, telehealth, and patient quality.
ICD-10 Overview: CMS ICD-10 Website
Web site
Provides fact sheets, resources, timelines, and news to help vendors, payers, and providers prepare for the U.S. health care's transition to Version 5010 and ICD-10. Includes information on the 2012 ICD-10-CM diagnosis coding system. Version 5010 standards pertain to electronic health transactions and ICD-10 pertain to medical diagnosis and inpatient procedure coding.
List of CMS Regional Office and Other External Entity Contacts
Web site
Lists regional contacts for reaching experts on the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act.
Meaningful Use Attestation Calculator: Meeting the Requirements for Meaningful Use
Web site
Allows professionals and eligible hospitals to test whether or not they will successfully demonstrate meaningful use for the EHR Incentive Programs.
Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) -Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies
Web site
Contains a list of recognized certification bodies for electronic health records.
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
Web site
A resource to support the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care.
Regional Extension Centers
Web site
Contains a list of the Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers (RECs) across the United States.
Rural Health IT: What "Meaningful Use" Means to Rural
Web site
A blog that is a collaboration between the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health and the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, with much of the content produced by Louis Wenzlow. Provides resources, opinions and the opportunity to discuss issues relating to the HIT provisions and requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, specifically relevant to rural healthcare.
Rural Health Research: Health Information Technology
Web site
Provides summaries of current and completed rural health research projects and related publications addressing the topic of health information technology (HIT), produced by the Office of Rural Health Policy's funded rural health research centers.
Rural Health Resource Center HIT Tools and Resources
Web site
Provides tools, documents, state profiles, funding, legislation and organizations that focus on Health Information Technology for rural healthcare communities.
Rural HIT Coalition
Web site
A network of rural and health information technology leaders from regional, state, national and federal organizations, working together to advance the implementation of health information technologies (HIT) across rural America.
Telehealth Resource Centers
Web site
Describes the 12 regional Telehealth Resource Centers which assist health care organizations, health care networks, and health care providers in the implementation of cost-effective telehealth programs to serve rural and medically underserved areas and populations.
Version 5010
Web site
Explains what Version 5010 is all about. Presents fact sheets, resources, timeline, and email updates regarding Version 5010, the revised set of HIPAA transaction standards that will replace the current version in 2012.
Workflow Assessment for Health IT Toolkit
Web site
Assists people and organizations interested or involved in the planning, design, implementation, and use of health IT in ambulatory care to conduct a workflow analysis and redesign before, during, and after health information technology implementation.
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Critical Access Hospitals and Meaningful Use of Health Information Technology
Author(s): Jeffrey McCullough, Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
Assesses the availability of health information technology applications that are preconditions for meaningful use in CAHs, compared to other U.S. hospitals in 2008.
Date: 02 / 2010
Crossroads of Telehealth, Electronic Health Records & Health Information Exchange
Author(s): Christina Beach Thielst
Sponsoring organization: Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center
Describes how telehealth implementation can address changes in the health care delivery landscape brought on by the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), the PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), and FCC's (Federal Communications Commission) Broadband Plan.
Date: 2010
e-Emergency Services Bring Specialists to Rural Patients with the Push of a Button
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
More and more specialists are available to small hospitals via telemedicine, benefiting patients—and doctors. Highlights Avera eEmergency Services, a hospital-based telemedicine emergency support service available in South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08 / 2011
Electronic Consultations Between Primary and Specialty Care Clinicians: Early Insights
Author(s): Kathryn Horner, Ed Wagner, Jim Tufano,
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Explores the promise of electronic consultation (e-consultation) for enabling primary care clinicians and specialists to communicate about patients at times that are mutually convenient and in rural areas where there is a shortage of specialists.
Date: 10 / 2011
Electronic Health Record Systems and Intent to Apply for Meaningful Use Incentives Among Office-based Physician Practices: United States, 2001–2011
Author(s): Chun-Ju Hsiao, Esther Hing, Thomas C. Socey, Bill Cai
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
Describes trends in adoption of electronic medical record/electronic health record (EMR/EHR) systems through 2011 and provides baseline information on physician readiness to meet eight Stage 1 Core "meaningful use" objectives in 2010.
Date: 11 / 2011
Electronic Health Records Adoption: Rural Providers’ Decision-Making Process
Author(s): Li-Wu Chen, Anne Skinner
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Examines the decision-making process that small rural physician clinics and hospitals use as they investigate and select an electronic health record (EHR) system.
Date: 10 / 2008
Electronic Medical Record/Electronic Health Record Systems of Office-based Physicians: United States, 2009 and Preliminary 2010 State Estimates
Author(s): Chun-Ju Hsiao, Esther Hing, Thomas C. Socey, Bill Cai
Presents the results of The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, which represents patient visits that includes office-based physicians and collects information on the adoption and use of electronic medical records/electronic health records (EMRs/EHRs).
Date: 12 / 2010
Ethics Conflicts in Rural Communities: Health Information Technology
Author(s): David A. Fleming
Sponsoring organization: Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College
This fourteenth chapter of "Handbook for Rural Health Care Ethics", addresses health information technology (HIT) in the areas of: telehealth, electronic medical records, electronic clinical support, and online prescribing services and the security issues involved.
Date: 2009
Evaluation of the Flexibility Critical Access Hospital Health Information Technology Network Implementation Program
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Summarizes the outcome of a $25 million in one-time funding to support 16 rural grantees to develop and implement health information technology pilot networks.
Date: 12 / 2010
FAQs: Versions 5010 and D.O Transition Basics
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Answers frequently asked questions regarding the transition to Version 5010 and D.O software. Version 5010 pertains to standards for electronic administrative transactions. D.O is the version of the National Council for Prescription Drug (NCPDP) standards for pharmacy transactions that replaces version 5.1.
Date: 07 / 2011
Federal Government Has Put Billions into Promoting Electronic Health Record Use: How Is It Going?
Author(s): Brian Schilling
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Discussion on the progress of the government sponsorship of training health information technology workers and establishing regional extension centers to provide technical assistance.
Journal citation: Quality Matters
Date: 06 / 2011
Final HIT Incentive Rule Stage 1 Quality Metrics Objective Summary and Challenge Identification
Author(s): Beth Dibbert, Louis Wenzlow
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Office of Rural Health
Serves as the first in a series of reports intended to help rural community hospitals develop strategies to meet the meaningful use objectives, then utilize the data to achieve process and quality improvement.
Date: 09 / 2010
Health Care Broadband in America: Early Analysis and a Path Forward
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
Addresses the content presented in Section 10.5 of the National Broadband Plan, entitled, Closing the Health IT Broadband Connectivity Gap. This paper further analyses and explains assumptions and methodology used and intends to solicit feedback and new ideas to enhance the understanding of health care connectivity issues. Includes aspects of the connectivity gap as it applies to rural areas and Rural Health Clinics.
Date: 08 / 2010
Health Information Technology Evaluation Toolkit
Author(s): Caitlin M. Cusack, Colene M. Byrne, Julie M. Hook, Julie McGowan, Eric Poon, Atif Zafar
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Provides a workbook to help health care organizations develop a plan to measure and report on the impact of health information technology systems.
Date: 06 / 2009
Health Information Technology Policy and Rural Hospitals (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Jeffrey McCullough, Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
Summarizes the implementation status of key Health Information Technology (HIT) applications in Critical Access Hospitals and other rural hospitals, and discusses policies for encouraging HIT adoption in rural hospitals.
Date: 06 / 2009
Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Examines the safety of health IT products and their effects on patient safety. Chapters two, four, and seven discuss safety specific to small practices and hospitals.
Date: 11 / 2011
HIPAA Privacy Rule's Right of Access and Health Information Technology
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Describes how HIPAA's right to access rules apply to health information technology and electronic health records (EHRs).
Date: 01 / 2009
HIT Incentives and State Grant Opportunities: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
Describes the Health Information Technology (HIT) Incentives and State Grant Opportunities from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 HITECH Act.
Date: 2009
ICD-10 Implementation Guide for Small and Medium Practices
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Step-by step guide specifically for small and medium provider practices regarding the transition to the ICD-10 code set.
Date: 10 / 2011
ICD-10 Implementation Guide for Small Hospitals
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Step-by step guide specifically for small hospitals regarding the transition to the ICD-10 code set.
Date: 10 / 2011
ICD-10 Transition: An Introduction
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Provides an introduction to ICD-10 code sets, which will replace ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures as of October 1, 2013.
Date: 04 / 2010
Increasing EHR Use for Quality Improvement in Community Health Centers: The Role of Networks
Author(s): Robert H. Miller, Chris E. West
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Researchers describe how networks helped
CHCs to use EHRs to improve chronic and preventive care and the barriers they faced.
Date: 08 / 2011
Key Points for Rural About HIT Meaningful Use
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
Describes key points on how the final rule on the Health Information Technology meaningful use definition will impact critical access hospitals (CAHs).
Date: 07 / 2010
Lessons Learned from Electronic Health Record Implementation at Three North Dakota Critical Access Hospitals
Sponsoring organization: JSI Research and Training Institute
Highlights common successes and challenges experienced during an electronic health
record (EHR) implementation project involving three Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in North Dakota. Offers recommendations for future Health Information Technology implementation processes.
Date: 03 / 2009
Marshfield Clinic: Health Information Technology Paves the Way for Population Health Management
Author(s): Douglas McCarthy, Kimberly Mueller, Sarah Klein
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Illustrates how Marshfield Clinic serving rural Wisconsin can improve patient outcomes and
reduce costs by undertaking a population-based approach to ambulatory care management
supported by information technology.
Date: 08 / 2009
Meaningful Use and Critical Access Hospitals: A Primer on HIT Adoption in the Rural Health Care Setting
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Provides CAHs with an introduction on HIT adoption issues and considerations, and identifies questions that can help CAHs define their own roadmap for adoption. Topics include evaluating organizational readiness, assembling multidisciplinary teams, reviewing current processes, identifying goals and objectives, and addressing vendor and product selection.
Date: 12 / 2010
Meaningful User of an Electronic Health Record System Describes Its Clinical and Financial Benefits
Author(s): Sarah Klein
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Summary of a rural family practice doctor's experience to be one of the first certified as a meaningful user of health information technology.
Journal citation: Quality Matters
Date: 06 / 2011
National Rural Health Information Technology Workforce Summit Summary
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
Compiled from the Summit held in Washington, D.C. on September 22, 2009. The topics for the recommendations include: Data Development, Workforce Resources, and Policy.
Date: 09 / 2009
National Survey of Health Information Technology (HIT) Adoption in Federally Qualified Health Centers
Author(s): Michael R. Lardiere
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers
The purpose of this survey was to determine the extent to which health centers have adopted health information technology, identify the major vendors utilized by health centers, determine the extent to which health centers have integrated behavioral health and/or oral health electronic records with medical health records, and health centers’ use of telemedicine.
Date: 05 / 2009
Secrets of HIE Success Revealed: Lessons from the Leaders
Includes profiles from the National eHealth Collaborative of twelve fully operational health information exchanges (HIEs) and demonstrates their strategies and business models including rural issues.
Date: 07 / 2011
Success Story in American Health Care: Using Health Information Technology to Improve Patient Care in a Community Health Center in Washington
Author(s): Kurt Herzer; Meena Seshamani
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Reports on how health information technology can improve health care for Americans living in rural communities.
Date: 09 / 2009
Summary of Health Information Technology Incentives and Resources
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
Summarizes the Medicare and Medicaid incentives available to eligible professionals and hospitals for the implementation of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. Included are definitions, information on meaningful use, certified technology, and helpful health information technology resources.
Date: 02 / 2011
Summary of the HIPAA Security Rule
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office for Civil Rights: Health Information Privacy
Summarizes key elements of the HIPAA Security Rule including who is covered, what information is protected, and what safeguards must be in place to ensure appropriate protection of electronic protected health information.
Taking the Pulse of Rural Health Care
Author(s): Carol Adaire Jones, Timothy S. Parker, Mary Ahearn
Summarizes a report entitled, Health Status and Health Care Access of Farm and Rural Populations, and describes how new health information technologies can improve health care in remote areas. Article page contains multimedia links to an author interview.
Date: 08 / 2009
Telemedicine Reaches Beyond Clinic Walls: Network Help Extend Access
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Discusses how telemedicine isn't confined to hospitals. It can reach patients in nursing homes, prisons and isolated geographic regions.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08 / 2011
Use of Health Information Technology in Support of Patient-Centered Medical Homes Is Low Among Non-metropolitan Family Medicine Practices
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Fred Ullrich, A. Clinton MacKinney
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Discusses the concept of a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) and examines if physician practices, especially non-metropolitan primary care practices, are ready to become PCMHs.
Date: 04 / 2011
Using Health IT: Eight Quality Improvement Stories
Author(s): Melanie Au, Suzanne Felt-Lisk, Grace Anglin, Andrew Clarkwest
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Highlights health information technology (HIT) successes including rural projects funded by the Transforming Healthcare Quality through Information Technology program.
Date: 09 / 2010
Organizations
AAFP Center for Health Information Technology (CHIT)
National organization
Works to promote use of health information technology by American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) members and other office-based clinicians, for the purposes of improving the quality and safety of medical care, and to increasing the efficiency of medical practice.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Federal government
Sponsors and conducts research that provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes, quality, cost, use, and access. The information helps health care decisionmakers - patients and clinicians, health system leaders, purchasers, and policymakers - make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services.
American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
National organization
Represents over 63,000 health information management (HIM) professionals. Provides standards and credential for medical coders, health information administrators, and health information managers. Assists those working with ICD-10 and Version 5010.
American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
National organization
Dedicated to developing and using information technologies to improve health care.
eHealth Initiative (EHI)
National organization
Membership organization seeking to drive improvement in the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology.
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Federal government
Works to improve and expand access to quality health care for all. Part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
National organization
HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to ensuring quality patient care.
Institute for e-Health Policy
National organization
Provides research and educational opportunities for public- and private-sector stakeholders who make and are directly impacted by e-health policy decisions. These stakeholders include the underserved, rural communities and minorities experiencing HIT disparities.
National Rural Health Resource Center (RHRC)
National organization
Provides technical support for the State Offices of Rural Health and their flex coordinators for the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, focuses on rural practice opportunities for healthcare providers in Minnesota and the surrounding region, does performance improvement with hospitals across the country, and develops the Rural Health Resource Directory of rural consultants and speakers found throughout the United States.
Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC)
National organization
Dedicated to assuring that rural areas in the United States have access to the information and support they need to obtain and use advanced telecommunications services and technology for social and economic development.
Terms & Acronyms
Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) A system that includes both inpatient orders and the electronic ordering of outpatient prescriptions often referred to as e-prescribing. The CPOE allows physicians and other caregivers to input orders directly into a computer, thereby eliminating problems with handwriting legibility and order transcription.
Electronic Health Record (EHR) An electronic record of patient health information which can be shared with other facilities.
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) A generic term used to describe a computer-based patient medical record that includes patient information regarding diagnoses, test/procedure results and other relevant medical information such as medical appointments and correspondence.
Electronic Prescribing (eRx) The component of CPOE systems which can increase medication safety by checking drug doses, routes of administration, frequency of administration, patient allergies, and drug-to-drug interactions before a prescription is issued, and by alerting clinicians when patients are at risk because of a potential prescription.
Health Information Exchange (HIE) Refers to the sharing of clinical and administrative data across the boundaries of health care institutions and other health data repositories.
Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) Aims to address the privacy and security challenges presented by electronic health information exchange through multi-state collaboration.
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). ARRA contains incentives related to health care information technology in general (e.g. creation of a national health care infrastructure) and contains specific incentives designed to accelerate the adoption of electronic health record systems among providers.
Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) The Panel was formed for the purpose of harmonizing and integrating standards that will meet clinical and business needs for sharing information among organizations and systems.
ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) The 10th version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. Medical classification list for the coding of diseases, signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases, as maintained by the World Health Organization. Comprised of over 14,000 codes and permits the tracking of many new diagnoses.
Meaningful Use Refers to the meaningful use of certified electronic health record technology to achieve certain healthcare quality, safety, and efficiency goals. Eligible professionals, hospitals, and critical access hospitals must attest that they've met their respective meaningful use criteria and are eligible to receive Medicare incentive payments for the installation and use of electronic health record systems under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Medical Informatics Deals with promoting the effective organization, analysis, management, and use of information in health care.
Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) A cooperative organization which can enable the regional constituents to securely and reliably exchange patient healthcare information. Their purpose is to improve patient health services and care through information sharing, advocacy, collaboration, technical innovations, and community affiliations.
Telehealth The use of telecommunication technologies for clinical care (telemedicine), patient teaching and home health, health professional education (distance learning), administrative and program planning, and other diverse aspects of a health care delivery system.
Version 5010 Also referred to as HIPAA X12 Version 5010. This is a new set of standards that regulates the electronic transmission of specific healthcare transactions. Covered entities, such as health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers, are required to conform to these standards by January 1, 2012.
Version D.O This is the new version of the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) standards for pharmacy transactions that replaces version 5.1. Mandatory compliance date is January 1, 2012.
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