A federal initiative aims to encourage participation in electronic health information exchange by providing information about privacy and security to healthcare providers.

 

The Health Information Security & Privacy Collaboration Provider Education Toolkit, launched January 15 in eight pilot states, including Tennessee, provides educational resources for healthcare providers interested in understanding electronic health information exchange and security and privacy best practices. Tennessee has partnered with the Tennessee Medical Association, Tennessee Medical Group Management Association, and QSource, the state’s Quality Improvement Organization, to raise awareness of these resources in the state’s medical community.

 

The Web-based toolkit, found at www.Secure4Health.org, offers physician-to-physician advice, resource links, and answers to frequently asked questions from national healthcare subject-matter experts. Healthcare providers can also earn free continuing medical education credits while learning more about electronic health information exchange, electronic health record systems, and related privacy and security benefits and challenges.

 

The initiative consists of a pilot project that runs from January to March 2009; the goal is to gather feedback from this pilot phase to develop further an education and outreach toolkit for health care providers nationwide.

 

The Provider Education Toolkit is the result of work completed by the Health Information Security & Privacy Collaboration, a multi-year project launched in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The collaboration comprises 42 states and territories and addresses the privacy and security challenges presented by electronic health information exchange through multi-state collaboration.

 

For more information, visit the TMA's eHealth Resources Web page and www.Secure4Health.org