The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, enacted as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, was signed into law on February 17, 2009 (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act: Impact on HIPAA Privacy and Security Provisions (asha.org)) to promote the adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT). The HITECH Act mandated the use of HIT by computerizing the medical record through Electronic Health Record (EHR) implementation and connecting it with Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) and then the RHIOs to the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN/NHIN) for the national level health information exchange. Although the EHR implementation has progressed to a satisfactory level (Hospitals Use of Electronic Health Records Data, 2015-2017 | HealthIT.gov; https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/page/2018-12/2018-HITECH-report-to-congress.pdf ), the RHIOs and NHIN have not (https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20190807.475758/full/ ).
Evaluate three factors, one each in the financial, technical (interoperability), and administrative (data ownership/legal) areas that have impacted the adoption of health information exchange technologies at the RHIO and NwHIN/NHIN levels? Assess the government and private plans to overcome these barriers? Frame at least three recommendations for overcoming these barriers. How would the stakeholders be affected by these plans, if implemented?
