Lining Up for Health IT The huge challenges of implementing a $30 billion program are just beginning to hit the states. Andy Kim | July 2010
To get a sense of the information technology (IT) challenges states face under the new health-care law, take a quick peek at Jonah Frohlich s schedule. On a recent day, California s deputy secretary for health IT started the morning by meeting with the leaders of 12 departments from the state s Health and Human Services Agency. The agenda: the implications of a health information exchange (HIE) on the agency s business processes. Next up, a get-together with officials from the California Public Employees Retirement System the pension fund is a large employer to discuss the role their purchases play in supporting e-health initiatives. Then it was on to a briefing on Medi-Cal s electronic health record (EHR) incentives, which was followed by a meeting with academics at a University of Californi