National Health Information Network Cost and Structure
Authors: Robert H. Dolin, Andrew M. Wiesenthal
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2006)

Letters17 January 2006National Health Information Network Cost and StructureRobert H. Dolin, MD and Andrew M. Wiesenthal, MDRobert H. Dolin, MDFrom Kaiser Permanente, Anaheim, CA 92807, and The Permanente, Federation, Oakland, CA 94612.Search for more papers by this author and Andrew M. Wiesenthal, MDFrom Kaiser Permanente, Anaheim, CA 92807, and The Permanente, Federation, Oakland, CA 94612.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-144-2-200601170-00016 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We agree with Kaushal and associates' (1) conclusion that the cost of building a national health information network is underestimated, but we believe that the separation of costs into functionality and interoperability may hinder readers from recognizing that the latter is critical in achieving the former. Interoperability is an essential and foundational component of all the functions (results viewing, electronic health record [EHR] systems, computerized physician order entry, claims submission, eligibility verification, patient communication, electronic prescriptions) that are described.Furthermore, we believe that interoperability standards are best broken down into technical and semantic components (such as mapping ...References1. Kaushal R, Blumenthal D, Poon EG, Jha AK, Franz C, Middleton B, et al. The costs of a national health information network. Ann Intern Med. 2005;143:165-73. [PMID: 16061914] LinkGoogle Scholar2. SNOWMED. SNOMED Clinical Terms. 2005. Accessed at www.snomed.org on 8 September 2005. Google Scholar3. Health Level 7. HL7 Clinical Document Architecture, Release 2.0. ANSI-approved HL7 Standard; May 2005. Ann Arbor, MI: Health Level Seven; 2005. Google Scholar4. Dolin RH, Mattison JE, Cohn S, Campbell KE, Wiesenthal AM, Hochhalter B, et al. Kaiser Permanente's Convergent Medical Terminology. Medinfo. 2004;11:346-50. [PMID: 15360832] MedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Kaiser Permanente, Anaheim, CA 92807, and The Permanente, Federation, Oakland, CA 94612.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoThe Costs of a National Health Information Network Rainu Kaushal , David Blumenthal , Eric G. Poon , Ashish K. Jha , Calvin Franz , Blackford Middleton , John Glaser , Gilad Kuperman , Melissa Christino , Rushika Fernandopulle , Joseph P. Newhouse , David W. Bates , and National Health Information Network Cost and Structure Robert B. Doherty National Health Information Network Cost and Structure James M. Kretz National Health Information Network Cost and Structure Michael M. Rothkopf and Herschel S. Jackson National Health Information Network Cost and Structure Rainu Kaushal , David W. Bates , and David Blumenthal Metrics 17 January 2006Volume 144, Issue 2Page: 145KeywordsComputersComputing systemsConflicts of interestElectronic medical recordsHealth information technology ePublished: 17 January 2006 Issue Published: 17 January 2006 CopyrightCopyright © 2006 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...