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BUSH PUSHES COMPUTERIZED MEDICAL RECORDS
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Speaking at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center on May 27, 2004, President Bush said computerized medical records "save money [and] improve the quality of care through the spread of good information." Bush called on the medical field to computerize all patient records within the next decade. "One of the amazing discrepancies in American society today is we're literally changing how medicine is delivered in incredibly positive ways, and yet docs are still spending a lot of time writing things on paper - and sometimes it's hard to read their handwriting," Bush said.
The President has appointed David Brailer, MD, Ph.D. to the newly created role of federal health IT coordinator. Brailer, who was with Bush in Nashville, said the industry had fallen behind in implementing a standardized system for electronic communication.
Click here to see and hear the remarks by President Bush and HIT Coordinator Brailer.
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SENATOR KERRY SAYS BUSH'S EHR FUNDING INADEQUATE
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Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry's (Mass.) campaign said Bush is focusing on small issues rather than addressing larger health care problems, such as soaring health care costs and the millions of uninsured. The campaign said Bush's proposed funding won't be enough to create EMRs for everybody or to transform the health care system. "Bush's rhetoric doesn't live up to reality," Kerry spokesperson Phil Singer said. Senator Kerry has proposed "secure, private electronic medical records by 2008" for all US residents as part of his health care agenda.
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DAVID J. BRAILER, MD, Ph.D. NAMED NATIONAL HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR
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Speaking in Washington, DC on April Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson named David J. Brailer, MD, Ph.D. the nation's new National Health Information Technology Coordinator. The coordinator would fill a new position in the Department of Health and Human Services and report directly to the DHHS Secretary . According to the White House, the coordinator will be charged with guiding ongoing health information standards development work, coordinate partnerships between government agencies and private sector stakeholders to speed adoption of health information technology, and facilitate the President's vision for most Americans to have a personal electronic medical record within 10 years. Click here for more information.
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FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH TO HEADLINE KENNEDY'S JUNE HIT CONFERENCE
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Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) officially announced that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), one of the most influential figures in public policy in recent history, will deliver the keynote address during the annual "Frontiers of Healthcare" conference, scheduled for June 21 at Brown University. Gingrich chose to participate in the conference largely due to Kennedy's sponsorship of the "The Quality, Efficiency, Standards, and Technology for Healthcare Transformation Act (QUEST)," which would implement a fully wired, integrated, paperless healthcare system by 2015, thereby reducing waste and inefficiency. The proposal also includes measures designed to reorient financial incentives for providers to reward, rather than penalize, quality improvements. Click here and here for more information.
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PRESIDENT BUSH'S HIT ANNOUNCEMENT
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PRESIDENT BUSH ANNOUNCES NEW DHHS HIT DIVISION AND GOAL TO IMPLEMENT PERSONAL ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD WITHIN 10 YEARS
Click here for President's speech and here for the Administration's healthcare information technology agenda.
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SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON IN THE APRIL 18 NEW YORK TIMES
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"Newt Gingrich and I have disagreed on many issues, including health care, but I agree
with some of the proposals he outlines in his book ''Saving Lives and Saving Money,''
which support taking advantage of technological changes to create a more modern and
efficient health care system. I have introduced legislation that promotes the use of
information technology to update our health care system and organize it around the
best interests of patients. Improvements in technology will end the paper chase,
limit errors and reduce the number of malpractice suits."
Click herefor more.
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