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The Office of the National Coordinator for HIT has published a summary of findings from an industry roundtable held in July to begin the process of developing a strategy to increase use of information technology in behavioral health.

The roundtable focused on care integration between behavioral health and primary care settings, specifically, a mechanism for bi-directional communications between the providers and a determination of what information is most essential to share. Recommendations from roundtable participants include:

* Strategies to increase electronic health records adoption in behavioral health, such as encouraging sharing of resources, encouraging vendors to develop low-cost systems for smaller practices and developing an EHR certification system;

* Provide technical assistance for behavioral health providers adopting EHRs through the federally funded regional extension centers, among other sources; and

* Offer grants to aid adoption of telehealth technologies to serve underserved populations.

The summary report is available here.