Markle Foundation presenting “Getting Health IT Right Under the ARRA” at Newseum in DC on Thursday

As we all know, the terms “meaningful use” and “certified” will be defined through (hopefully) a new healthcare collaborative and not legacy vendors process this year. The Markle Foundation, which is a philanthropic organization that advises the government on various matters, is presenting their view on what “meaningful use” should mean and how that definition should drive the “certified” terminology debate.

I got an early look at what they’re presenting and I like what they have to say. I couldn’t find much to argue with. If the government listens to Dr. Diamond (the Chairwoman of “Connecting for Health”) I think we’ll be in pretty good shape. I hope Zoe Baird, the president of Markle, and Dr. Carol Diamond, Markle’s healthcare policy director, are able to make their case and get some buy in from the appropriate federal government representatives.

Here’s the announcement:

Getting Health IT Right Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
Thursday, April 30, 2009 9:00 am – 11:45 am
Newseum
555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (at 6th Street, NW)
Washington, DC 20001
Event will take place on the 8th floor of the Knight Conference Center. Please use the Freedom Forum entrance, which is located on 6th Street, NW (around the corner from the Newseum main entrance).

The Obama Administration has an immediate challenge of investing $19 billion to improve health and reduce growth in health care costs with information technology (IT). On April 30, 2009, Markle Connecting for Health will release new documents proposing strategic priorities for the health IT provisions of the economic stimulus law. The Markle Foundation cordially invites you to participate in a gathering of health and IT leaders, congressional staff, and executive branch policymakers to discuss the critical issues around implementation of the ARRA provisions for health IT investments. Our objective is to sharpen understanding of what it will take to meet the law’s goals of improving health care quality, reducing growth in health costs, encouraging innovation, and protecting the privacy and security of data.
TO RSVP, please register here.

Note: Security requires that all participants pre-register. Spaces are limited. Participation will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.