Health Minister Zane DeSilva has reported on the “aggressive time frame” for putting in place Bermuda’s National Health Plan.The plan is designed to provide residents with universal access to healthcare by 2014.In a Ministerial Statement before the House of Assembly, the Minister listed deadlines for the various task groups overseen by the plan’s steering committee.The Benefit Design Task Group has created “draft options for health benefit packages”, Mr DeSilva said, with the aim of getting the most out of the Island’s minimum mandated insurance plan, the Standard Hospital Benefit.Those options are now being priced by the Finance and Reimbursement Task Group, through actuaries Morneau Shepell.“A draft consultation report with costed financial options will be completed in the autumn, and the final report will be submitted to the steering committee by the end of the year,” Mr DeSilva said.In tandem with this, an Overseas Care Task Group is seeking more efficient options for treatment abroad.Overseas care has shown the greatest rise in expenditure each year, Mr DeSilva told the House.Next, the Long-Term Care Task Group, dealing with health strategies for the chronically ill and disabled — from children to seniors — is to present its findings to the steering committee before the end of this summer.Overall, this group has a four-year time frame in which to put its goals in place.Meanwhile, a Health IT Task Group, Mr DeSilva said, is to develop “an integrated health IT system that will increase quality care and efficiency through the creation of an electronic health record”. It is currently engaged in an online survey.The Bermuda Hospitals Board has also recruited William Flatman as project director to develop its Electronic Medical/Patient Record initiative.Mr DeSilva also addressed the health promotion targets of the Well Bermuda Strategy, which is being implemented by a Prevention Task Group. It is to report on its progress this June to the steering committee.Useful website: www.nhp.bm.