In a recent post to the ONC's Health IT Buzz blog, national coordinator for health IT Farzad Mostashari described 2011 as a year of "momentous progress" for the health IT movement and the adoption of electronic health records.

Mostashari said that the meaningful use program has come a long way since the final rules were initially released a little over two years ago. He listed the top 10 developments that occurred last year that marked this progress.

He cited the launch of the EHR incentives program; the launch of the Direct Project, which enables the secure transmission of records via email; the start of HHS's National Quality Strategy; the Summer of Standards from the Office of Standards and Interoperability, which reached agreement for a set of standards governing electronic transmission of patient data; continued health IT innovation; expanded job training; HHS's report to congress on data breach prevention efforts; and the launch of the ONC's Consumer eHealth Program.

Furthermore, Mostashari underscored the important role of the Regional Extension Centers in helping a growing number of physicians adopt EHRs. He pointed to a recent CDC report showing that EHR adoption has doubled since 2008.