A recent New England Journal of Medicine survey of physicians confirms that doctors who utilize electronic health records report high levels of satisfaction with electronic systems, but most are hesitant to risk costly investments in new health IT without confidence the systems won’t become obsolete. These results underscore the urgent need for Congress to approve health information technology (health IT) legislation.

Health IT will save lives and cut medical costs. This survey confirms that doctors who utilize health IT are very satisfied with the improvement in the quality of care they can provide for their patients. However, most doctors are waiting for Congress to take action and establish uniform standards so that they can take advantage of the many benefits of health IT.

That is why I am urging the Senate and the House to act as soon as possible on health IT legislation that will establish an interconnected, nationwide system and encourage the adoption of cutting-edge-information technologies in health care to improve patient care, reduce medical errors, and cut health care costs.

The survey, “Electronic Health Records in Ambulatory Care – A National Survey of Physicians,” published on line by the New England Journal of Medicine, concludes that physicians who utilize health IT report high levels of satisfaction, but that only a small percent have extensive, fully functional systems. Physicians cited initial costs, difficulty finding systems that met their needs, and concerns that systems would become obsolete among the top barriers to adopting health IT.

The bipartisan “Wired for Health Care Quality Act,” S. 1693, will alleviate those concerns by providing grants to health care providers to encourage the adoption of health IT. It will establish a public-private process to develop uniform standards to lay the foundation for technology and information sharing among doctors, hospitals, and insurers to ensure that patient data, insurance and medical histories are available wherever and whenever treatment is needed. A Rand Corporation study projected a potential savings of $162 billion a year for the health care industry once the US achieves widespread adoption of electronic health records.

I cosponsored the health IT bill with Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman of the HELP Committee, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY). In the House, Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI) have led the charge for health IT legislation.

The Wired for Health Care Quality Act is a bipartisan proposal with broad support from stakeholders. Health IT will improve the quality of health care, reduce health care costs, and eliminate mistakes that kill thousands of people per year. We need to get this bill done and we need to get it done this year.”

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 1:11 pm and is filed under Politics .