WASHINGTON – The American Health Information Community, more recently known as AHIC Successor Inc. and colloquially as AHIC 2.0, will now be called the National eHealth Collaborative, or NeHC.

Members of the organization's board of directors are slated to meet with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team on Friday. The group will offer to help the team with Obama's stated commitment to promote the use of electronic health records and health information technology as part of a national economic stimulus package and comprehensive healthcare reform.

NeHC, a public-private partnership dedicated to the creation of a secure and interoperable nationwide health information network, announced its new name Thursday in the nation's capital. The group named new board officers in December.

The organization succeeds AHIC, a federal advisory committee established in 2005, and AHIC Successor, Inc., founded in 2008 to transition the original organization into a nonprofit membership group.

NeHC's membership and board represent virtually all stakeholders whose participation is needed to drive the rapid development and adoption of an interoperable health system.

Participants include federal and state agencies, health systems, payers, health professionals, medical centers, community hospitals, patient advocates, major employers, nonprofit health organizations, commercial technology providers and others.

The collaborative works in partnership with the Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP), the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN), as well as other health and IT member organizations.