Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2006
HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - July 27, 2006)
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Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentlelady for yielding.
I rise today in support of H.R. 4157, which is not a panacea, but is an important starting point on this very important topic.
This legislation would work to ensure interoperability standards for health IT are adopted, stimulating investment in electronic health records, electronic prescribing and other forms of IT that have been demonstrated to make health care safer and more efficient.
Only through a truly interoperable, nationwide system will the benefits of health information technology be fully realized. The widespread adoption of health IT holds great promise to reduce medical errors and administrative costs, which can lead it to a dramatic improvement in the quality, the delivery and the cost of health care.
A couple of years ago in my district, I established a Health Care Cost Containment Task Force which identified preventable mistakes and physician errors as a significant source of health care costs in the system. One of my task force's recommendations was to help curb the rise of preventable medical errors through the implementation of health information technology.
I am very pleased with the work that our subcommittee and its chairman have done in this area. This is a very important initiative because, compared to other industries, health care has a neolithic perspective when it comes to information technology.
The core idea, Mr. Chairman, behind an electronic health care system, is that doctors in one State treating an emergency room patient visiting from another State should be able to access that patient's records on a nationwide health care technology system. In this way, the patient will be better protected, the doctors will be able to treat the patient more quickly and more effectively, which would cut down on errors, and the Nation will save on health care spending.
By supporting this legislation, we make a significant move forward in bringing health care information technology fully into the 21st century and, in the process, saving lives and resources as well.
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