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 met with President Obama’s transition team in January to 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, named new board officers in December, with John Tooker, MD, as chairman.

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 and technology providers.

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