American Medical Informatics Association's 2004 Spring Congress To Focus on Implementing Electronic Health Record Systems

BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) will bring together leaders in health information management and technology on April 28-29, 2004, to present a two-day Congress on "Practical Strategies for Implementing Electronic Health Record Systems." It will take place at the Hilton McLean Tyson's Corner in McLean, Virginia.

National experts on implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems will share best practices and lessons learned with those who are about to embark on, in the midst of, or seriously considering implementing such systems. Working with AMIA as co-sponsors of the Congress are the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), the eHealth Initiative (eHI), the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology (NAHIT).

The Chair for the AMIA 2004 Spring Congress is Paul Tang, Chief Medical Information Officer at Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto, California. Dr. Tang is a past recipient of the Nicholas E. Davies Award for Excellence in Computer-based Patient Record Implementation, and is Chair of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Data Standards for Patient Safety, which recently issued the report Key Capabilities of an Electronic Health Record System. Co- chairs of the Program Committee include John Glaser, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Partners Healthcare, Boston, MA, and J. Marc Overhage, Associate Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine and Senior Investigator, Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN.

In addition to presentations from national experts, the Congress will feature interactive small group sessions with the experts and other opportunities for networking. Special sessions designed for intact implementation teams from healthcare organizations will provide work time to apply the materials learned from the conference to their home implementation project.

AMIA President-elect Charles Safran stated that "AMIA is pleased to be able to bring together thought leaders from all facets of healthcare to help move forward the broad adoption of electronic health records, an issue of importance for the health of all Americans."

Linda Kloss, Executive Vice President and CEO of AHIMA, a co-sponsor of the Spring Congress, commented that "This meeting is essential for anyone striving to migrate from paper to a full electronic health record. Through its e-HIM initiative, AHIMA seeks a health information environment that is electronic, patient-centered, comprehensive, longitudinal, credible, and accessible. The EHR is the key to making this future state a reality."

Janet Marchibroda, CEO of the co-sponsoring eHealth Initiative remarked that "There is enormous momentum around the implementation of an electronic health record, as evidenced by recent actions by Congress, the Administration and the private sector. AMIA's Spring Congress on implementation of electronic health records will provide practical strategies to help healthcare organizations move this agenda forward in their own organizations and nationally."