Building Careers and Shaping Public Policy

June 24, 2005

Mr. Michael O. Leavitt
Secretary of Health and Human Services
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201

Dear Mr. Leavitt:

IEEE-USA supports the formation of the National Health Information Infrastructure and development of a national health information network. We believe that improving our ability to have the right information at the right time in real time will help improve patient care, decrease medical errors and eliminate redundant healthcare expenditures. The formation of a national framework based on standards and supported by Federal oversight will facilitate implementation of enhanced communication technologies into the healthcare environment. With clear accepted technical standards and careful attention to semantic interpretation, medical device/system interoperability can be achieved. Our views and recommendations are outlined in the enclosed IEEE-USA position paper on the “National Health Information Network with Emphasis on Security and Privacy Issues.”

IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of the IEEE. It was created in 1973 to advance the public good and promote the careers and public policy interests of the more than 220,000 technology professionals who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, go to http://www.ieeeusa.org. If we can be of further assistance, please contact Deborah Rudolph in our Washington office at (202) 785-0017 x 8332 or email at d.rudolph@ieee.org.
 

Sincerely,

Gerard A. Alphonse
President, IEEE-USA
 

Also sent to Senator Bill Frist, OSTP Director Jack Marburger, and David J. Brailer
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology