The U.S. needs to address the challenges of patient privacy and security in order to put healthcare IT to the best use, said ONC head David Blumenthal, MD, Monday at the Medical Group Management Association’s annual conference.

As hospitals and physician organizations scramble to use EHRs effectively, they must not forget to make the patient their highest priority, said Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health information technology.

“There is nothing in the framework of the HITECH act not related to serving patients,” he said, during an educational session at MGMA.

That law "has created an explosion of innovation," Blumenthal added, and "I think it has been [reform’s] longest lasting effect.”

Still, certification programs for those myriad healthcare IT innovations are crucial, he said, as they create standards for the technology's use.

“We need a system in place to be sure that patient information is where it’s needed,” Blumenthal said. “It is a core technical competence for physicians to know how to use an EHR.”

To that end, he said, regional extension centers focusing on small primary care practices – especially those in rural areas and critical access hospitals – have been expressly designed to help those providers use health IT effectively.