Health Information Technology Organizations

AHRQ – Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (www.ahrq.gov)Mission: To improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans.

AHIMA – American Health Information Management Association (www.ahima.org)AHIMA is the premier association of health information management (HIM) professionals. AHIMA's 52,000 members are dedicated to the effective management of personal health information needed to deliver quality healthcare to the public. Founded in 1928 to improve the quality of medical records, AHIMA is committed to advancing the HIM profession in an increasingly electronic and global environment through leadership in advocacy, education, certification, and lifelong learning.

AMIA – American Medical Informatics Association (www.amia.org)AMIA is the professional home for biomedical and health informatics. AMIA is dedicated to promoting the effective organization, analysis, management, and use of information in health care in support of patient care, public health, teaching, research, administration, and related policy. AMIA’s 4,000 members advance the use of health information and communications technology in clinical care and clinical research, personal health management, public health/population, and translational science with the ultimate objective of improving health.

ANIA – American Nursing Informatics Association (www.ania.org)Mission: To provide networking, education and information resources that enrich and strengthen the roles of nurses in the field of informatics. The field of nursing informatics includes domains of clinical information, education and administration decision support.

ANSI – American National Standards Institute (www.ansi.org)Mission: To enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity.

ASC X12 – The Accredited Standards Committee X12 (www.x12.org)Vision: To be an innovative leader in the development of cross industry e-commerce standards that improve global business process interoperability and facilitate business information exchange.

ASTM – American Standards Testing and Materials (www.astm.org)ASTM International, originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world-a trusted source for technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services. Known for their high technical quality and market relevancy, ASTM International standards have an important role in the information infrastructure that guides design, manufacturing and trade in the global economy.

ATA – American Telemedicine Association (www.atmeda.org)The American Telemedicine Association is the leading resource and advocate promoting access to medical care for consumers and health professionals via telecommunications technology. ATA seeks to bring together diverse groups from traditional medicine, academic medical centers, technology and telecommunications companies, e-health, medical societies, government and others to overcome barriers to the advancement of telemedicine through the professional, ethical and equitable improvement in health care delivery.

CAQH – Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (www.caqh.org)An unprecedented nonprofit alliance of health plans and trade associations, is a catalyst for industry collaboration on initiatives that simplify healthcare administration. CAQH solutions promote quality interactions between plans, providers and other stakeholders; reduce costs and frustrations associated with healthcare administration; facilitate administrative healthcare information exchange and encourage administrative and clinical data integration.

CCHIT – Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (www.cchit.org)The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology or CCHIT is a recognized certification body (RCB) for electronic health records and their networks, and an independent, voluntary, private-sector initiative. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of health information technology by creating an efficient, credible and sustainable certification program.

eHI – eHealth Initiative (www.ehealthinitiative.org)The eHealth Initiative and the Foundation for eHealth Initiative are independent, non-profit affiliated organizations whose missions are the same: to drive improvement in the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology. Both organizations are focused on engaging multiple and diverse stakeholders to define and implement actions to address quality, safety and efficiency challenges of our healthcare system through the use of interoperable information technology.

GS1 US – (www.gs1us.org)Formerly UCC, GS1 US is a member organization of GS1. GS1 is a fully integrated global standards organization with 108 member organizations representing 150 countries worldwide. GS1 US leads its North American membership with true global representation in the GS1 System.

HIMSS – Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (www.himss.org)The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare.

HITSP – The Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (www.hitsp.org)The Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel is a cooperative partnership between the public and private sectors. The Panel was formed for the purpose of harmonizing and integrating standards that will meet clinical and business needs for sharing information among organizations and systems.

HL7 – Health Level Seven (www.hl7.org)Health Level Seven is one of several American National Standards Institute (ANSI) -accredited Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) operating in the healthcare arena. Health Level Seven is a not-for-profit volunteer organization. Its members-- providers, vendors, payers, consultants, government groups and others who have an interest in the development and advancement of clinical and administrative standards for healthcare—develop the standards. Health Level Seven adheres to a strict and well-defined set of operating procedures that ensures consensus, openness and balance of interest. Health Level Seven develops specifications, the most widely used being a messaging standard that enables disparate healthcare applications to exchange key sets of clinical and administrative data.

NCPDP – National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (www.ncpdp.org)NCPDP creates and promotes standards for the transfer of data to and from the pharmacy services sector of the healthcare industry. The organization provides a forum and support wherein our diverse membership can efficiently and effectively develop and maintain these standards through a consensus building process. NCPDP also offers its members resources, including educational opportunities and database services, to better manage their businesses.

NCVHS – National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics (www.ncvhs.hhs.gov)The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics was established by Congress to serve as an advisory body to the Department of Health and Human Services on health data, statistics and national health information policy. It fulfills important review and advisory functions relative to health data and statistical problems of national and international interest, stimulates or conducts studies of such problems and makes proposals for improvement of the Nation’s health statistics and information systems. In 1996, the Committee was restructured to meet expanded responsibilities under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

NIST – National Institute of Standards and Technology (www.nist.gov)Founded in 1901, NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. NIST's mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.

NLM – National Library of Medicine (www.nlm.nih.gov)The National Library of Medicine (NLM), on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world's largest medical library. The Library collects materials and provides information and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care.

ONC – Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (www.healthit.gov)The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology serves as the Secretary's principal advisor on the development, application, and use of health information technology; coordinates the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) health information technology programs; ensures that HHS health information technology policy and programs are coordinated with those of other relevant executive branch agencies; and to the extent permitted by law, develops, maintains, and directs the implementation of a strategic plan to guide the nationwide implementation of interoperable health information technology in both the public and private health care sectors that will reduce medical errors, improve quality, and produce greater value for health care expenditures, and coordinates outreach and consultation by the relevant executive branch agencies with the public and private sectors.

WEDI – Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (www.wedi.org)Mission: To provide leadership and guidance to the healthcare industry on how to use and leverage the industry’s collective knowledge, expertise and information resources to improve the quality, affordability and availability of healthcare.