2009 Annual Health Policy Invitational Meeting

Anticipating and Addressing Unintended Consequences of Health Information Technology and Policy

The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) held our 4th Annual Health Policy Meeting on September 9 and 10, 2009, in Reston, Virginia. During the meeting, multiple, diverse stakeholders focused on potential unintended consequences (UCs) of health information technology (HIT) and policy, as well as effective options for addressing them. Keynote presentations and breakout session discussions identified the problems and challenges regarding unintended consequences, as well as the roles of various stakeholders (including government, industry, organizations, and biomedical and health informaticians) in anticipating and addressing them.

Meeting Goals and Objectives

• Explore and outline approaches to anticipating, recognizing/identifying, and addressing unintended consequences of HIT.
• Explore and outline unintended consequences of HIT policy and legislative efforts.
• Identify potential issues we might face in the future, especially those due to the convergence of HIT, clinical technologies and devices, and communications capabilities. Identify areas for further study and/or research.
• After the conference, develop objective reports that synthesize the issues related to unintended consequences of HIT design, development, implementation, adoption and use.

Meeting Materials

• FINAL Report
• AMIA Press Release
• Marshfield Clinic Press Release
• Meeting Agenda
• Meeting Goals and Objectives
• Unintended Consequence Template
• Proposed Schema for Unintended and Unanticipated Consequences
• Presentations: Experiences from other Industries
  • Aeronautics and Aviation by Nancy Leveson
  • Transfusion Medicine Experience by Rodeina Davis
• Selected Readings
• Sponsors and Supporters