The service, called the Health Care Notification Network (HCNN) will replace the current paper-based alerts known as ?Dear Doctor? letters, which the FDA currently sends via U.S. mail.
?Relying on paper-based U.S. mail and weeks of delay to deliver time-urgent patient safety alerts to doctors in 2008 is indefensible and unsafe," said Nancy Dickey, MD, former AMA president and chair of the iHealth Alliance, the non-profit organization overseeing HCNN, in a prepared statement. ?After a few years of work with the FDA and many other partners, we are finally moving from the paper age into the Internet age in terms of patient safety alerts.?
The FDA has a liaison representative serving on the iHealth Alliance governing board.
