WEDI and National Association for Trusted Exchange (NATE) Announce Partnership
RESTON, Va. and WASHINGTON, D.C. (PRWEB) September 25, 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, and the National Association for Trusted Exchange (NATE), the nation’s leading nonprofit authority in consumer-mediated electronic health information exchange, announced a partnership to cooperate on Phase II of the Virtual Clipboard Initiative and to advance research concerning healthcare interoperability.
“Our collaboration with NATE is instrumental to our mission as we work to broaden interoperability in healthcare technology in a consistent manner across all stakeholders in the industry,” said Devin Jopp, Ed.D., president and CEO of WEDI. “The expertise of NATE’s leaders, membership and partnering stakeholders will be invaluable as we further the Virtual Clipboard Initiative into the next phase of the program.”
Building off recommendations contained in the 2013 WEDI Report, the Virtual Clipboard Initiative was developed by The Sullivan Institute for Healthcare Innovation, in collaboration with WEDI, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) to leverage advanced technologies to dramatically enhance the patient experience while improving patient safety.
“This is an important partnership for our industry, and one that will afford tremendous advantages to the members of both organizations,” said Aaron Seib, NATE CEO. “We are confident that the synergies of our organizations will produce amazing returns as we look to enhance the use of additional interoperable technologies that include the consumer, bringing about a new era in healthcare.”
WEDI’s mission is to provide leadership and guidance to the healthcare industry on how to use and leverage the industry’s collective knowledge, expertise and information resources to improve the quality, affordability and availability of healthcare. NATE brings the expertise of its membership and other stakeholders together to find common solutions that optimize the appropriate exchange of health information for greater gains in adoption and outcomes. Both NATE and WEDI welcome the participation of all interested stakeholders and encourage them to get engaged with either or both organizations’ collaborative activities.
About National Association for Trusted Exchange
The National Association for Trusted Exchange (NATE) brings the expertise of its membership and other stakeholders together to find common solutions that optimize the appropriate exchange of health information for greater gains in adoption and outcomes. Emerging from the Western States Consortium, a pilot project supported by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), NATE was established as a not-for-profit organization in May 2013. Consistent with NATE’s mission to address the legal, policy, and technical barriers that inhibit health information exchange between entities within a state and across states, NATE leads and participates in a number of ongoing and emerging projects in the HIE domain. NATE has been operating its own Trust Bundles in production since November 2012 and took over administration of the Blue Button Plus Patient and Provider Trust Bundles in 2014. Working with a broad set of stakeholders through multiple task forces, crowdsourcing and a call for public comment, NATE is proud to make available the first release of NATE's flagship Blue Button for Consumers (NBB4C) Trust Bundle beginning in 2015. NATE will soon move into a new phase of development around Blue Button Trust Bundles. Stakeholders interested in participating in the next phase of NATE’s work in consumer mediated exchange should consider NATE membership or subscribe to news from NATE’s PHR Community.
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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