On June 3, 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology released the ONC-Coordinated Federal Health IT Strategic Plan: 2008-2012.  The plan has two primary goals: (1) to enable the transformation to higher quality, more cost-efficient, patient-focused health care through electronic health information access and use by care providers, and by patients and their designees; and (2) to enable the appropriate, authorized, and timely access and use of electronic health information to benefit public health, biomedical research, quality improvement, and emergency preparedness. To reach these goals, the plan calls for the facilitation of the electronic exchange and use of health information, while protecting the privacy and security of patient health information; promotion of interoperability of health information systems; support for nationwide deployment of electronic health records; and the establishment of collaborative decision-making.