The Obama Administration has allocated over $36 billion from the economic stimulus package to fund the "meaningful use" of electronic health records. This first panel of the OHSU Monthly Evening Informatics Conference will describe elements of the package and their impact in Oregon.

The speakers on the panel will include:

1. William Hersh, MD
2. David Dorr, MD
3. Dawn Bonder, JD
4. Abby Sears

Dr. Hersh will begin with an overview of the stimulus package and the larger context of health information technology. He will also make some comments on the workforce provisions in the legislation. Next, Dr. Dorr will describe in more detail the notion of "meaningful use" of electronic health records. He will be followed by Dawn Bonder, who will give an overview of HIT efforts at the state level. Finally, Abby Sears will describe the efforts of her organization, OCHIN, to bring EHRs to safety net clinics as well their leadership on the proposal Oregon HIT Regional Extension Center.

Each panelist will keep their remarks brief in order to insure opportunity for participation by the audience.

Please RSVP to Lynne Schwabe at schwabel "at" ohsu "dot" edu for catering purposes by Tuesday, October 6, 2009.

We look forward to seeing you at our first Thursday Evening Biomedical Informatics Conference this term!