New Initiative Aims at Integrating EMS into Healthcare IT

Health information technology is most useful at the point of care so why do so many emergency medical services (EMS) professionals lack access to patient health information where it is likely to prove so effective?

A new offshoot of the collaboration between the Offices of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) aims to address this question.

In a recent post on HealthITBuzz, Kevin Horahan and Tara Holland highlight the important role integrated health IT could play in improving emergency care and streamlining a patient’s entry into the continuum of care.

“EMS is both the gateway to and an integral part of the healthcare system,” they write. “Currently, few EMS systems are connected to a health information exchange or other electronic health/medical records system. There are many challenges to sharing of EMS data, including funding, proprietary systems, and a lack of collaboration.”

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Source: EHRIntelligence