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BOISE, ID -- (Marketwire) -- 03/14/13 -- Forty years ago, the greatest untapped resource in health care was the patient. Now, patients have a strong ally for engagement and empowerment when it comes to their health information. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, has named Leslie Kelly Hall as Chair of the Consumer Technology Workgroup for the Health Information Technology Standards Committee. Hall is senior vice president of policy for Healthwise, a nonprofit organization that provides health content, technology and services. She brings her 30 years of experience in the health care field to the position.

"This is an exciting and critical time for health care. The patient's voice needs to be part of the conversation, and giving them access to the tools and data is key," said Hall. "Healthwise has been working for nearly 40 years to fulfill our mission to help people make better health decisions. This is one more step in achieving that."

The Consumer Technology Workgroup will focus on strengthening the ability of consumers, patients, and lay caregivers to manage health and health care for themselves or others. The workgroup will provide recommendations on standards and interoperability issues, such as portability of patient data, patient access to and generation of their health data, and incorporating patient preferences for a variety of issues, such as care plans.

The appointment follows Hall's tenure as chief information officer for a large medical system in Idaho and her advocacy work in bringing about a more patient-centric health care system. She has served on the board of directors for the National eHealth Collaborative and as consumer advocate on the Health Information Technology Standards Committee.

About Healthwise
Healthwise is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people make better health decisions. People have turned to Healthwise information more than a billion times to learn how to do more for themselves, ask for the care they need, and say "no" to the care they don't need. Healthwise partners with hospitals, electronic medical record (EMR) providers, health plans, disease management companies, and health websites to provide up-to-date, evidence-based information to the people they serve. www.healthwise.org, 1.800.706.9646.

© 2013, Healthwise, Incorporated.
Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise.



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