Florida Health Information Systems CouncilMinutes, July 28, 1999Membership: (§381.90, F.S.): The council shall be composed of the following members or their senior executive-level designees:
Council Members in Attendance:
Others in Attendance:
Call to Order and Welcome: Dr. Robert Brooks called the Florida Health Information Systems Council meeting to order and welcomed participants. Roll Call: In lieu of roll call, attendees identified themselves and the organization they represented. Attendance is reflected above. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the Florida Health Information Systems Council meeting held March 26, 1999, were adopted as submitted. New Legislation: Ms. Cook reported that the amendments to the FHISC legislation became effective on July 1, 1999. Six new members were added: the departments of Juvenile Justice, Elder Affairs, Education, and Insurance, Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, and a representative of Florida Schools of Public Health chosen by the Board of Regents. In addition, the legislation requires creating a review and approval process to ensure cooperative planning among entities that collect or maintain health-related data. Dr. Brooks discussed the benefits of improved cooperation and data sharing to enhance planning and decision-making to better serve the needs of Florida’s citizens. Governor’s Response to the Strategic Plan and IRM Annual Performance Report Appendix: Ms. Cook provided a brief overview of the Governor’s Office response to the strategic plan submitted on April 1, 1999. (A bulleted summary of the response was included with meeting materials.) She reported the Governor’s Office noted improvement in the plan and requested additional detail in the next submission. Among additions to the plan were the inclusion of projection tables for the objectives, IRM projects assigned to specific agencies, and reference the Governor’s Security Policy among others. Dr. Brooks asked Ms. Cook to outline the necessary workgroups and their goals. She stated two workgroups are needed. One workgroup will be responsible for the Council’s ongoing strategic planning efforts. The Council’s next strategic plan must be approved by the Council and submitted to the Governor’s Office by March 1, 2000. The second workgroup will address the legislatively required review and approval process for cooperative planning. This group will craft the process for approval by the Council and submission to the Governor and Legislature by January 1, 2000. Ms. Cook stated workgroup participants have been identified and meetings have been scheduled. The Strategic Planning Workgroup will meet on August 25th at 2pm. The initial meeting of the Review and Approval Process Workgroup will be held on August 24th at 2pm. Both meetings will be held in the DOH IRM Conference Room, Room 2324 of the Alexander Building. Additional volunteers are encouraged and welcomed to attend these meeting. Next, Ms. Cook discussed the IRM Annual Performance Report Appendix that is required by agencies this year. One element of the appendix is a table addressing FHISC goals. Agencies named to the Council must address each FHISC Goal. The appendix has recently been updated with the current Council goals and is available on the Technology Review Workgroup web site. Mr. Richard Schmitt with the Technology Review Workgroup stated that the appendix is required to assist the TRW in reviewing agency budget requests, amendments and strategic planning on behalf of the Governor and Legislature. He noted the majority of OPB comments to the Council’s strategic plan were generated by the TRW. VI. FHISC Web Page Status: Ms. Cook reported the FHISC site is current and may be used to access meeting information and strategic planning documents. She requested new members provide approval to use their agency logo and mission statement on the site. In response to Dr. Brooks’ request for comments or suggestions for the site, Ms. Jane McNeely stated she accessed the FHISC page in preparation for the meeting and found it informative and helpful. Final Business: In acknowledgment of the experience and erudition of the Council participants, Dr. Brooks opened the meeting to general discussion. Mr. Noel Witt inquired about research performed by the Council with regard to other models. Ms. Cook stated research into other state models or data-sharing efforts was the focus of an early workgroup. However, with the exception of research performed in preparation of the strategic planning documents, that information has not been collected. Mr. Witt stated he attended an electronic information presentation by a gentleman from Delaware where there has been an effort to "aggregate statewide data." Mr. Witt suggested information on the Delaware project might assist the Council’s efforts. Dr. Brooks agreed other initiatives could provide beneficial information and offered to discuss staff resources with Ms. Cook, noting research of this nature could be timely and might require the efforts of another workgroup. Mr. C. J. Ortiz suggested another endeavor of interest might be the Washington Heights Project, an effort to "coalesce the health information system" by the Columbia School of Medicine. Referencing the "Scope" section of the Strategic Plan, Ms. Linda Rackleff stated health practitioner manpower data needed for planning, assessment and outcome measurement is absent. Ms. Rackleff stated BOR is in need of information with regard to how many healthcare practitioners of a particular type are educated, graduated, licensed and in practice and how that compares to Florida’s need. This information is necessary to determine the state policy on encouraging certain specialties. Dr. Brooks agreed the data need falls within the Council’s purview. He suggested the data is available within DOH and requested staff to assist BOR with getting the information. With regard to the membership of the Council, Mr. Larry Purintun suggested the Department of Labor collects and maintains health-related data, especially with regard to workers’ compensation rehabilitation. Dr. Brooks suggested inviting the Department of Labor on an ad hoc basis as provided in statute. In conclusion, Dr. Brooks expressed his appreciation to the workgroup participants, noting that workgroups are fundamental to the progress of the Council. He also invited Council participants to bring issues or experiences they feel would be beneficial for presentation at future meetings. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. |
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