Report will serve as roadmap to improved healthcare delivery

The 2013 report from the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange “will serve as a new road map to the future and lead to improved healthcare delivery,” said Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, former secretary of health and human services, at a Dec. 5 National Press Club Newsmaker event announcing the release of the 2013 WEDI report.

The report arises from a collaboration between the public and private sectors and places the patient in the center of healthcare, Sullivan said. He founded WEDI and served as honorary chair of the 2013 WEDI Report Executive Steering Committee.

A group of 10 healthcare-industry experts praised the report and spoke about its effects on their various industries.

The WEDI report recognizes the changes in technology and the healthcare industry that have occurred since the release of its original report in 1993, said Jim Daley, WEDI chair. As the healthcare industry moves forward, it should “look across the broad spectrum of activities in an integrated, coordinated manner considering both short-term goals and a longer-term vision of where the industry is heading,” Daley said.

The WEDI report contains four areas of focus: patient engagement, payment models, data harmonization and exchange, and innovative encounter models, said Devin A. Jopp, WEDI president and chief executive officer. The report contains 10 recommendations that would facilitate improvement in electronic exchange of healthcare information, Jopp said.

The report recommended improving patient engagement by standardizing the patient identification process across the healthcare system. In the area of payment models, the report recommended the development of a framework “for assessing critical, core attributes of alternative payment models such as connectivity.”

The report recommended identifying existing or proposed federal or state laws “that create barriers to the implementation of innovative encounters.” The report recommended identifying and promoting “consistent and efficient methods for electronic reporting of quality and health status measures” and “methods and standards for healthcare information exchange that would enhance care coordination.”