So far, it seems reasonable to believe that HITECH is working, but where could things go wrong?

Policymakers interested in pondering that question might want to look across the pond to a new report from Britain’s parliament that has apparently lead officials to pull the plug on a mult-year effort to create a nationwide health information network.

There is, of course, no shortage of differences between the two countries, but it’s hard to believe there aren’t enough similarities that US policymakers wouldn’t learn a thing or two. At the very least, policymakers might use the report’s criticisms to see if similar problems are occurring in this country’s HIT transition.

For example, the British report says the Department of Health " could have avoided some of the pitfalls and waste if they had consulted at the start of the process with health professionals,” a criticism which has been directed at times at US federal policymakers.

Moreover, the report “also criticized the lucrative contracts the government gave to a handful of technology vendors,” a point somewhat reminiscent of recent comments made by IT sector representatives in this country.

Again, no two systems are identical, and the US probably has as much to learn from countries that have successfully made the HIT leap, such as Denmark, as it does from experiences such as Britain’s.

Nonetheless, if the old adage says “If at first you do not succeed, try, try again,” a similar adage for policymakers might be “If you’re trying to succeed where others have failed, see what you can learn from what they did wrong.”