Policy Panel Work Group Considers Tailored EHRs for Children, Others

Electronic health record systems should expand to meet the needs of children and other vulnerable populations, experts said last week during a meeting of the Health IT Policy Committee’s meaningful use work group, Federal Computer Week reports.

EHRs for Children

Carolyn Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, said studies show that about 21% of pediatricians use EHR systems, but only 6% say their EHR system features all the functionalities they believe are necessary.

AHRQ and CMS are collaborating to create a pediatric EHR template for children enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Clancy said.

To design the pediatric EHR model, experts will conduct an environmental scan and gap analysis to identify up to three core functions for pediatric EHRs that currently are not available in most EHR systems. The new system likely will incorporate growth charts and vaccination data, Federal Computer Week reports.

EHRs for Other Groups

Howard Hays — acting program manager of the EHR system at the Indian Health Service — called for future EHR systems to assess uncommon factors that influence health status in certain communities, such as:

• Crime;
• Cultural barriers;
• Domestic violence;
• Language; and
• Literacy.

Hays said IHS’ EHR system already features software and standards that allow users to track information from nontraditional data fields, including some that address domestic violence (Lipowicz, Federal Computer Week, 6/4).

Leveraging EHRs To Address Health Disparities

Work group members also discussed the possibility of requiring health care providers to report how EHRs could reduce health disparities as part of the criteria for demonstrating “meaningful use” of health IT.

Paul Tang — co-chair of the work group and chief medical information officer of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation — said the second stage meaningful use requirements could require health care providers to leverage EHR data to address health needs for underserved populations.

Chris Gibbons, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, said health care providers could use EHR data to evaluate and monitor reductions in specific disparities (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 6/7).

Source: iHealthBeat

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