The National Emergency Medical Extranet project

The National Emergency Medical Extranet (NEME) project was a collaborative multi-center effort to create a plan for a networked system to improve emergency clinical care through real-time information support, and simultaneously provide benefit through information support for public health initiatives. This article presents a review of the NEME project and its recommendations, which are particularly relevant given the desire for improved communication and surveillance systems in today's healthcare and public health environments. Participants in the NEME project performed an environmental assessment and a proposed conceptual architecture for NEME. A consensus conference was held to review the NEME concept to obtain feedback and delineate priorities for future development and testing. The NEME consensus conference used a modified version of the nominal group method. Recommendations for the following areas were established: Business/Organizational Issues [1) create a compelling provider driven NEME model, 2) provide a comprehensive policy framework, 3) address economics]; Clinical/Caregiver Issues [1) develop a NEME system that is integrated with Emergency Medicine workflow, 2) provide incentives to caregivers, 3) generate a critical mass of participation for maximum benefit]; Technical Issues [1) incorporate a robust security and confidentiality architecture, 2) utilize a master person index, where appropriate, 3) evaluate or adopt existing data standards]; Heart Attack Alert Functional Priorities for NEME [1) continuous quality improvement and research, 2) regional electrocardiogram server, 3) past medical history and medication server]; Next Generation Internet Functional Priorities for NEME [1) real time epidemiology/surveillance, 2) patient education, 3) real time clinical alerting]. In conclusion, issues and consensus recommendations in the planning of a NEME are documented. These recommendations should be considered in future efforts to design, develop and implement wide area information networks to support Emergency Medicine. A review of current activities evolving from NEME is presented, and further research and development is encouraged to create and implement NEME systems.