E-health board taps Surescripts counsel

ALEXANDRIA, Va. Electronic prescribing platform provider Surescripts said Monday that Paul Uhrig, the company’s general counsel, EVP of legal and finance and chief privacy officer, has been tapped to serve on the National eHealth Collaborative board of directors.

NeHC is a public-private partnership whose purpose is the creation of a secure, interoperable, nationwide health information network. The goal, according to Surescripts: to “advance the American public's interest in health and improve the quality, safety, efficiency and accessibility of health care.” The organization operates under a cooperative agreement with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

“Both the team at Surescripts and our colleagues within NeHC share a collaborative goal of incorporating technology into health care to improve lives, increase efficiencies and enable a seamless and secure exchange of information,” said Uhrig. “I'm thrilled to join this panel of industry visionaries [who] share our objectives.”

NeHC chair Laura Adams said the “ultimate objective” for NeHC is “measurably improving individual and population health by enabling the seamless and secure nationwide exchange of electronic health information.” Achieving that goal “will require unprecedented engagement and collaboration among all the stakeholders of our healthcare system,” added Adams, who is also president and CEO of Rhode Island Quality Institute.