WEDI Launches Genomic Data Exchange Workgroup
RESTON, Va. (PRWEB) October 20, 2015 -- The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), the nation’s leading nonprofit authority on the use of health IT to create efficiencies in healthcare information exchange, announced the development of its newest Workgroup focused on Genomic Data Exchange as well as the appointment of three co-chairs to lead the group as it evaluates and outlines a common industry vision for genomic data in healthcare.
“With all of the latest advances in genomic sequencing, profiling, testing and phenotyping, the healthcare industry is quickly entering a completely new era of personalized medicine. This progress will require more advanced health information technology, capable of rapidly accessing, exchanging and processing information to fully inform diagnostic, treatment and prevention decisions at the point of care,” said Devin Jopp, Ed.D, president and CEO of WEDI. “It is important that WEDI, as the leading authority on health IT and health information exchange, bring this issue to the forefront and investigate not only how to build a national infrastructure to support this genomic data, but how to create seamless workflows to enhance the delivery and coordination of care.”
Katherine Johansen Taber, Ph.D., director of the American Medical Association’s Personalized Medicine Program; Adam Scott, vice president of consumer clinical strategy at Aetna; and Grant Wood, senior IT strategist for Intermountain Healthcare’s Clinical Genetics Institute will serve as co-chairs for the WEDI Genomic Data Exchange Workgroup.
The Genomic Data Exchange Workgroup will further evaluate and create a common industry vision and roadmap on how to incorporate genomic data into the American healthcare system. WEDI invites industry professionals with a related focus and interest in furthering the development of coordinated genomic data exchange to participate in the WEDI Workgroup. For more information on participating in the Genomic Data Exchange Workgroup, please contact Emily Smith at esmith(at)wedi(dot)org.
Emphasizing the importance of the genomics topic to health information technology, this year, WEDI-Con will feature a half-day Genomics Pre-conference Summit on October 26 with leading industry professionals. This summit is open to all interested healthcare stakeholders across provider, payer, vendor and government entities. Both WEDI members and non-members can register online for the conference and/or summit with group discounts available.
The newly formed Workgroup emerged from an initial investigation into a wide range of genomic information exchange issues – including genomic data formats, exchange, privacy controls, security, storage, management, governance, care coordination and payer-provider collaboration – from the preliminary taskforce in the first quarter of 2015.
The preliminary taskforce developed and just released a report on its initial findings, “Issues and Trends in Electronic Genomic Information Exchange,” which spurred the creation of the Genomic Data Exchange Workgroup and identifies specific recommendations for areas of further focus for the new Workgroup within the three domains of Data Access and Integration, Data Exchange and Data Governance.
About WEDI
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is the leading authority on the use of health IT to improve healthcare information exchange in order to enhance the quality of care, improve efficiency, and reduce costs of our nation’s healthcare system. WEDI was formed in 1991 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and was designated in the 1996 HIPAA legislation as an advisor to HHS. WEDI’s membership includes a broad coalition of organizations, including: hospitals, providers, health plans, vendors, government agencies, consumers, not-for-profit organizations, and standards development organizations. To learn more, visit http://www.wedi.org and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Dave Anderson, Anderson Interactive, on behalf of WEDI, +1 678-401-2991, [email protected]
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