The Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to implement an electronic health record system to increase the efficiency of its healthcare services for undocumented immigrants and fugitive aliens detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Government Health IT reports.
The department said it is overhauling its information systems, and the EHR system could be developed by government agencies or commercial companies, or could be a hosted service. The system must meet “meaningful use” requirements and be interoperable with other computer systems at DHS.
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations average daily detention population consists of roughly 35,000 foreign nationals charged with violations of U.S. immigration law. In 2007, ERO removed more than 276,000 individuals from the United States.
