In a recent press conference, Governor Kulongoski made the following statement regarding Oregonian's health information.

"We want to ensure that all of our citizens' health records are available to them and their healthcare provider anytime, anywhere they are needed and that those health records are confidential and secure at all times"

He went on to announce the Privacy and Security award:

"I am also pleased to announce that this week we learned that Oregon will be a participating state in the national effort to assess how privacy and security laws and business practices affect the exchange of electronic health information."

Oregon's Privacy and Security Collaborative

The Privacy and Security Collaborative is a national program to assess privacy and security laws and business practices with regard to the exchange of electronic health information. Oregon is one of 34 states participating in this collaborative and has signed a subcontract for $349,000 with Research Triangle International in partnership with the National Governors Association. The Governor's office has designated the Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research (OHPR) to complete the project. OHPR will collaborate with the private sector by working with a multi-stakeholder non-profit organization, the Oregon Healthcare Quality Corporation. The Oregon Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) team will engage a broad group of stakeholders in Oregon to develop an implementation plan to permit interoperable health information exchange that is private and secure. Participation in this project will elucidate the issues and guide development of solutions for the state, while positioning Oregon for continued involvement in developing a national health information network.

The State of Oregon will be required to complete their work in less than one year and undertake certain activities, including:

• Examine privacy and security policies and business practices regarding electronic health information exchange and the current legal requirements in the state that may be driving those policies.
• Identify challenges that privacy and security policies might pose to interoperable health information exchange.
• Identify best practices and solutions for maintaining privacy and security protections while enabling operation of a health information network.
• Develop an implementation plan to address organization-level business practices and state laws that affect privacy and security practices in order to permit interoperable health information exchange.
• Convene and work closely with a wide range of stakeholders in the state, including clinicians, physician groups, health facilities and hospitals, payers, public health agencies, government health agencies, pharmacies, long-term care facilities and nursing homes, consumer organizations and others.
• Identify and organize a steering committee to lead the effort within each state.
• Participate in regional and national meetings with other states to share knowledge and collaborate on health information exchange privacy and security issues and related issues.

Completion of this project will be the result of numerous people’s efforts. These people will be named as the project proceeds.

At present, key project personnel include:

Jody Pettit, MD

Project Director

Health Information Technology Coordinator, Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research

Jeanene Smith MD, MPH

Acting Administrator, Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research

Tina Edlund

Acting Deputy Administrator, Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research

Nancy Clarke

Executive Director, Oregon Healthcare Quality Corporation

The Steering Committee will be appointed by the Governor.

The following workgroups will be assembled:

Variations Work Group (VWG)

Legal Work Group (LWG)

Solutions Work Group (SWG)

Implementation Plan Work Group (IPWG)

The Working Groups will be comprised of domain experts from a broad range of stakeholder groups. If you have a desire to participate in one of these workgroups, please contact Dr. Pettit at

jody.pettit@state.or.us

In accordance with the Privacy and Security contract, the meetings are open to the public. Attendance is encouraged. The subject matter is of the utmost importance and concerns every one of us.

October 2006 Interim Assessment of Variation

Oct/Nov 2006 Regional Meetings

November 2006 Interim Analysis of Solutions

December 2006 Interim Implementation Plan

March 2007 Final Assessment and Analysis of Solutions

March 2007 Final Implementation Plans

March 2007 National Meeting

April 2007 Nationwide Summary