Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality (OFMQ) has joined with other private and public organizations around the state of Oklahoma as part of a national collaborative effort to address privacy and security policy issues affecting interoperable health information exchange.

The State of Oklahoma has signed subcontracting agreements with RTI International as part of its Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) project. Oklahoma is one of 34 states and U.S. territories participating in the project to assess how organizational business policies, practices and state laws regarding privacy and security affect health information exchange on a national level, and Oklahoma has formed the Oklahoma Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (OKHISPC).

“Current policies and laws governing the security and privacy of health care information vary considerably nationwide,” said Linda Dimitropoulos, RTI’s project director. “This collaborative effort among experts will help us work through the myriad security and privacy issues so that policy makers at the state and federal levels can begin to address the concerns that will allow Americans to benefit from improved sharing of health care information.”

Each state participating in the project formed different groups to identify the status of gathering electronic health data throughout the state, possible barriers to interoperability, and potential legal liability issues. Health information technology consultants from OFMQ have been an integral part of the OKHISPC project, having actively participated in the working groups.

“Oklahoma is one of the few states forming working groups consisting of an interdisciplinary mix of individuals. Those on the working groups come from diverse areas such as legal, medical, technology, government, QIOs and more. We are excited about sharing OFMQ’s experience and expertise within these different groups,” said Phillip Smith, Quality Improvement Specialist at OFMQ.

OFMQ Quality Improvement Specialist Margaret Enright said, “From our work on the Doctors Office Quality - Information Technology (DOQ-IT) project, we have been able to share real life scenarios we have seen out in the field. This experience has helped our groups identify and try to find solutions for barriers to interoperability.”

The information that Oklahoma learns through this project will be combined with the information from other states with the eventual goal of developing a secured nationwide electronic health information network. “This initiative should help us better understand how to use electronic information exchange to transform the healthcare system without compromising the privacy and security of sensitive medical information,” said Robert Neal, EHR Implementation Specialist at OFMQ.

States and territories participating in the project finished state-level interim assessments and analyzed solutions in the fall, and will complete the project by spring of 2007. The governor of Oklahoma will review the recommendation from the Oklahoma HISPC and determine if any of the recommendations should be implemented for the State of Oklahoma. Once the recommendations from each state are submitted, members from each region will discuss implementation plans that will allow interoperable health information exchange on a national level.