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Stimulus Pushed For Standardized Electronic Records

Posted on: Friday, 1 May 2009, 15:20 CDT

The United States’ health czar has plans to revamp the nation’s health system and make the transition from paper to electronic health documents.

"It is clear that this field has not advanced (enough) ... when left exclusively to the private sector so there is a public role," said Dr. David Blumenthal, head of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Electronic records are touted for saving time and money by offering a standardized form of filing and offering a better approach to managing chronic conditions.

Speaking before an event hosted by the Markle Foundation, Blumenthal said the government did not want to become too intrusive, but added it did need to spur changes for the wellbeing of Americans.

Blumenthal is in charge of making sure that the $19 billion allotted to the health IT office by the new economic stimulus package goes into the most effective projects.

The addition of $19 billion into the sector has gained further interest in the health IT sector. Companies in the sector include McKesson Corp and Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc as well as larger players such as Microsoft Corp, Google Inc, Siemens AG and General Electric Co, according to Reuters.

"We are going to be very soon... making some decisions on how to use some of the funds that are available to us," said Blumenthal.

Despite the overall national progression to electronics in most areas of life, studies continue to show that the healthcare community is clinging to its traditional system of paper records.

During the administration of President George W. Bush, the role of introducing electronic records among healthcare providers was largely placed on the private sector.

Marc Overhage, who oversees medical information research at the Regenstrief Institute, told Reuters that the practice initiated by the previous administration has failed.

"We can't keep doing what we're doing because what we're doing is nothing," he said.

"There's not a lot that's changed in the last five years that's really meaningful," he said at the foundation event.

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On the Net:

• Department of Health and Human Services
• Markle Foundation

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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