Farzad Mostashari
A key aspect of the Obama administration’s plans for health reform relies on the nations’ doctors and hospitals adopting electronic health systems. The goal is to improve quality and reduce costs, but the prospect of buying new systems and training people has been daunting for many providers.
At the start of the year, electronic health records were being used by just 15 percent of acute-care, non-federal hospitals and 25 percent of office-based physician practices, according to the American Hospital Association and the National Center for Health Statistics. They say, though, that those numbers will grow: 81 percent of hospitals and 41 percent of doctors practices said they plan to adopt electronic records over the next two years.
Helping ensure that adoption is the job of Dr. Farzad Mostashari, the new head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Mostashari, who has been at the agency since 2009 as the deputy national coordinator, replaced Dr. David Blumenthal, the first head of the office who left in April to return to teaching at Harvard University. Mostashari spoke with Bara Vaida about his new job and his priorities. Here are edited excerpts:
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