The ONC has partnered with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response on a campaign to increase the use of heath IT by emergency medical technicians and other first responders.
The two departments have launched the ASPR Collaboration Community, a group of industry stakeholders that will tackle the use of health IT by EMTs as its first project. Community members will exchange ideas and best practices for further integrating technology into emergency medical services to allow for better care coordination with hospitals.
"It's our hope that emergency medical services will become a full participant in the electronic exchange of health information," wrote Kevin Horahan, senior policy analyst at ONC, in a blog post. "This would entail the regular and secure two-way exchange between EMS and other health care facilities and payers."
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