European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes and U.S. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius signed an agreement in Washington to collaborate on EHR interoperability.
The United States
and the European Commission have signed a memorandum of understanding to work
together on compatible formats for EHRs (electronic health records) and to promote
education in health care technology.
Vice President of the European Commission Neelie Kroes and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human
Services Kathleen Sebelius announced and signed the memorandum on Dec. 17 at
the Transatlantic Economic Council, a political organization that fosters
economic cooperation between governments.
Interoperability of EHRs is essential for the e-health market to grow globally, according to the
Commission.
Under the terms of the memorandum, HHS and the Commission will exchange delegates and specialists to
share information on e-health. They'll also set up joint working groups,
workshops and conferences to establish shared strategies on EHRs.
Adoption of EHRs is four times higher in the EU than in the United States, the Commission
reports.
"Nothing
makes more of a difference to people's lives than good health," Kroes said
in a statement. "I warmly welcome today's agreement. It is an excellent
basis for the Commission and the U.S. authorities to expand our
cooperation on promoting the overall benefits of e-health for patients, health
systems and companies."
Under the agreement, EU and U.S.companies will have greater potential to do business in e-health on either
continent, according to the EC.
The U.S. government is investing
$20
billion toward the use of EHRs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act.
"The partnership between the EU and the U.S.,the two world leaders in e-health, sends a strong signal to all stakeholders
that common standards and interoperability bring opportunities for a global
approach for the benefit of patients, health systems and the market," the
EC said in a statement.
Using e-health technology can improve health care quality, reduce medical costs and increase the possibility
of independent living, the EC reports.
The agreement is part of the EU's Digital Agenda for Europe initiative,
established in May 2010 and outlining the continent's agenda to boost its
digital economy by 2020. All Europeans will have access to online medical
records anywhere in the EU under the Digital Agenda.
Companies such as GE Healthcare, KP (Kaiser Permanente) and Verizon Business have been working to develop
health record databases that can support interoperable record types.
In October GE Healthcare unveiled plans to test the
interoperability
of its Centricity EHR platform in early 2011. The company expects full
commercial availability of the features later that next year.
Meanwhile, that same month, Verizon said that its Medical Data Exchange would support the exchange of multiple
types of documents, including X-rays and lab results.
Also in October, health plan provider KP (Kaiser Permanente) announced that HHS would distribute its
Convergent
Medical Technology to allow for greater understanding of EHRs by doctors and patients.
"One of the key challenges to achieving a coherent health record for every U.S. consumer is the need for
consistent data across all systems and institutions," said Sebelius at the time of the announcement with KP.
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