DHS to support electronic health records in Gulf Coast recovery

Hurricane Katrina caused serious injuries for many caught in or near the storm’s path. It also resulted in the total destruction of numerous hospitals, medical offices, record storage facilities, and personal records throughout the region, leaving many people, both those in need of urgent care and those simply trying to create order from the chaos left behind, without a paper trail of medical histories and ongoing treatment plans. The challenge of reconstructing health and medical regimens affects both those who remained in the area and those who fled, and represents a major logistical and practical challenge. It also points to the need to rebuild better, in this case by rebuilding electronically.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced yesterday that it will work with Gulf states to develop electronic health records (EHRs) in regions affected by the hurricane. HHS secretary Mike Leavitt announced agreements to form a task force of local and national experts to coordinate planning for the recovery of health information, and to support and disseminate an electronic system to store the reconstructed records. The Southern Governors’ Association will host the Gulf Coast Health Information Task Force, and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals will support the effort by developing a prototype for how information should be shared, and how EHRs can be supported by regional health and medical groups.

The undertaking aligns with other initiatives under way at HHS to expand the use of EHRs and to promote coordination and communication among the myriad parties that handle medical records.

-read the press release; learn more about health IT at HHS, read about the Southern Governors’ Association here and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals here