Georgia HIMSS - Advocacy - Georgia HIMSS Advocacy Newsletter

November 2007

National Legislation
HIMSS has endorsed S-1693 The Wired for Healthcare Quality Act, the primary HIT vehicle on Capitol Hill this year. Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson is a co-sponsor. Please ask Georgia Senator Chambliss to also co-sponsor. It has been placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders.

Representative Anna Eshoo (D-14th CA) has submitted H.R, 3800, a bipartisan companion bill to S-1693. None of the Georgia Representatives have co-sponsored this legislation. Please ask your Georgia Representative to co-sponsor. It has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Georgia Representatives Nathan Deal and John Barrow are on this committee.

Be a Resource to Your Legislative Representatives
As our Senators and Representatives write bills and vote on legislation to improve our nation and state, they are expected to be knowledgeable in all fields¡ an impossible task. Our healthcare system is complex. Coordinating information flow through the healthcare system is correspondingly complex.

Working in the healthcare information field, you understand it better than those representing you in DC and at the Georgia capitol. Become a resource to your legislative representatives on health information. Let your representatives know you are available to help them understand proposed legislation regarding health information. Reach out to your representatives quarterly and build a relationship with them. Begin with a simple letter. A sample letter template is available for you to use as a start.

Please customize this letter to make it your own¡ legislators tend to like localized and personalized communication.
At a minimum, send four letters: one to your Georgia Senator in the US Senate, one to your Georgia Representative in the US House of Representatives, one to your district Senator in the Georgia Senate, and one to your district Representative in the Georgia House of Representatives. Do not send other letters until you have established relationships using your home geography.
Keep the letter brief, respectful, and professional.
Remember to include all of your preferred contact information.
Addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your representatives are available at http://capwiz.com/himss/dbq/officials/.

HIMSS National Legislative Principles

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Georgia HIMSS Legislative Principles

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Georgia Health Information Technology and Transparency Advisory Board
Next meeting is Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 - 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM at Georgia Tech Research Institute, 250 14th Street N.W., Atlanta, GA 30318-9108, Room Number 119B. Governor Sonny Perdue issued two Executive Orders relating to Health Information Technology and Transparency (HITT):

Signed in October 2006, the first created the HITT Advisory Board to facilitate and encourage the use of electronic health records, establish a statewide health information exchange strategy and promote marketplace transparency.
The second, signed in February 2007, encouraged marketplace transparency by providing cost and quality data to consumers, and application of industry best practices that facilitate the use of electronic health records

The Board members, which are representative of various health care providers and businesses, will advise the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) in applying industry best practices for facilitating and encouraging the use of electronic health records and establishing a statewide strategy that will enable health information to be available across the full continuum of care. That strategy will be establishing a web site.

The web site will feature service, cost, quality and educational information regarding pharmacies, nursing homes, personal care homes, home health and other long term care services, health insurers, hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. Through the Transparency Web site, health care consumers will have the opportunity to identify providers, services, average charges, quality, length of stay and other factors with regard to certain health care services. The site will help consumers understand how to compare options and the data will be risk adjusted to standardize comparative data.