Lining Up for Health IT
The huge challenges of implementing a $30 billion program are just beginning to hit the states.
Andy Kim
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July 2010
To get a sense of the information technology (IT) challenges states face under the new health-care law, take a quick peek at Jonah Frohlich's schedule. On a recent day, California's deputy secretary for health IT started the morning by meeting with the leaders of 12 departments from the state's Health and Human Services Agency. The agenda: the implications of a health information exchange (HIE) on the agency's business processes. Next up, a get-together with officials from the California Public Employees' Retirement System--the pension fund is a large employer--to discuss the role their purchases play in supporting e-health initiatives. Then it was on to a briefing on Medi-Cal's electronic health record (EHR) incentives, which was followed by a meeting with academics at a University of California school of informatics. The subject: an anticipated demand for skilled health IT labor. Back at his office, Frohlich was briefed on a broadband infrastructure the California Telehealth Network is developing, and he then met with a local HIE organization.