HITSP Contract With U.S. HHS Extended Through April 2010

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) is pleased to announce that its contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been extended through April 30, 2010.

"Since HITSP's formation in 2005, the Panel has been working to advance the widespread adoption and interoperability of electronic health records," said Fran Schrotter, HITSP project director and senior vice president and chief operating officer of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the organization that administers the Panel. "We are very grateful to the thousands of volunteer technical experts who have worked countless hours to create HITSP work products that help to enable health IT interoperability. Keeping this momentum going is a tremendous priority for us, and we are pleased that HHS has granted a contract extension that allows HITSP to continue its outreach efforts."

During this contract extension period, the Panel will hold monthly informational update calls, participate in the HIMSS10 Healthcare Information Technology Conference and Exhibition, and work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on a Quality Data demonstration project. In addition, the HITSP website continues to be fully operational and accessible, offering stakeholders access to the Panel's full program of work, as well as educational materials and archived webinars.

The extension will also assure that HITSP volunteers stay engaged going forward until the next phase of standards harmonization to be funded by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) is announced.

"ANSI and our strategic partners – the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, the Advanced Technology Institute, and Booz Allen Hamilton – are committed to progressing standards harmonization efforts and interoperability guidance in the health IT field," continued Schrotter. "We are proud of HITSP's accomplishments and are dedicated to a continued partnership. We look forward to responding to any requests for proposals issued by ONC to further this important work."

For more information on HITSP, visit www.HITSP.org or contact HITSP secretary Michelle Maas Deane ([email protected]; 212.642.4884).

About HITSP

A cooperative partnership between the public and private sectors, the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) is a national, volunteer-driven, consensus-based organization that is working to ensure the interoperability of electronic health records in the United States.

Operating under contract to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), HITSP is administered by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in cooperation with strategic partners including the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), and Booz Allen Hamilton.

SOURCE American National Standards Institute