Health information technology gets a $1 billion boost

An example of an electronic health record In a success story on both the health care reform and job creation fronts, the Obama administration has announced its plans to devote $1 billion in grants to help grow health information technology as part of the Recovery Act. The stimulus funds were announced jointly by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. Officials are aiming for the money to be utilized to make health information technology available to thousands of hospitals, health facilities and doctors around the country; and to train health professionals to use such technology.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, allocation of the funds includes: $386 million to facilitate health information exchange at the state level, $375 million will go to a set of 32 nonprofit groups to support the creation of regional extension centers that will help health workers implement and use new health technologies. Additional awards are expected to be announced in the near future. The grants are expected to help more than 100,000 hospitals. Among the organizations receiving the most funds are the California Health and Human Services Agency ($38,752,536), New York eHealth Collaborative Inc. ($22,364,782), the Illinois Department of Health Care and Family Services ($18,837,639), the Governor's Office of Health Care Reform Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ($17,140,446), and the Michigan Department of Health ($14,993,085).

Sebelius said in a statement, "Health information technology can make our health care system more efficient and improve the quality of care we all receive. These grant awards, the first of their kind, will help develop our electronic infrastructure and give doctors and other health care providers the support they need as they adopt this powerful technology."

Given the tenuous state of health care reform in Congress, the Obama administration and the public should be appreciative of and excited by announcements like this one. Democrats were shaken by the victory of Republican Scott Brown in the Senate, leading Obama to warn them against running for the hills in his State of the Union message. Still, despite the president's efforts to keep health care reform on track, Republicans are now insisting that Congress scrap the enormous amount of work that's already been done and start from scratch. Perhaps this new boost for health information technology will help get things back on track. In addition to improving efficiency, streamlined technology is also expected to help control climbing costs, which is a central tenant of health care reform efforts.


Photo source: Handy patients electronic medical record (free open source version)