James B. Wieland appointed to EMR Advisory Panel

[Admin]

Ober|Kaler principal James B. Wieland has been appointed to the Maryland legislature's Task Force to Study Electronic Health Records, an advisory panel that will make recommendations to Maryland lawmakers on electronic medical records (EMR) policy and issues related to Regional Health Information Organizations.

The committee will advise the legislature on developing standards for the confidential electronic exchange of medical records by health care providers. It will also advise on RHIOs, an emerging type of health information network that enables the electronic exchange of information across states and regions. Because of variations in data entry, systems, and encryption, RHIO programs are generally proprietary in their architecture and cannot communicate information outside of their own system.

"Our goal is to help the Maryland legislature continue to provide Marylanders a cost-effective and efficient health care system," commented Mr. Wieland, who was appointed by Governor Robert L. Ehrlich. Mr. Wieland emphasized the need to establish standards and a universal approach that will support health care data exchange.

With thirty-two years of experience, Mr. Wieland, 57, represents organizations that deal with electronic health information, from health care providers to software and service companies. His experience includes counseling health care industry clients on all aspects of privacy issues, including state laws and the HIPAA Privacy Standards.

Mr. Wieland is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School (J.D., 1974) and University of Minnesota (B.A., 1970). He served on the American Health Lawyers Association board of directors and its predecessor entity from 1993 to 1999. He has served as an associate member of the faculty of Johns Hopkins University, and is widely published. Mr. Wieland was recently invited to serve on the editorial board for Health Information Management Manual, by Aspen Publishers.

Mr. Wieland lives in Greenspring Valley.