Robert Fromberg
Editor-in-Chief, HFMA
David Brailer, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, seems to have found the perfect way to describe how he would like the nation to adopt nationwide interoperable healthcare IT. Speaking yesteday at the HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition, Brailer told an overflow crowd that he and his son had recently seen a flock of geese migrating and thought it was the perfect metaphor for the IT initiative he leads. "There is no command and control," he said. "All move naturally together." He explained that "government plays a big part" in fostering an interoperable system, but his emphasis is on public-private collaboration, not "the Draconian top-down command that government can give." The federal government, he said, "will not build, own, or operate" the system.
Coming soon: results from HFMA's research on how healthcare financial executives view the government's role in encouraging IT adoption and helping overcome related financial barriers. We'll see whether you, too, favor a flock of geese in which "all move naturally together."
