News Release
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 25, 2004 |
Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343 |
HHS to Present Plan on Transforming Health Care Through Information Technology at National Conference July 21
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today that the first installment of a national health information technology plan will be delivered July 21 when HHS convenes a key conference in Washington, D.C., to accelerate progress toward electronic health records and other benefits of health information technology for Americans.
"The benefits that all of us could reap from health information technology are simply too great to put off any longer," Secretary Thompson said. "The health care sector needs to run, not walk, toward realizing this potential. Health information technology can not only improve care for our patients and offer better support for our health professionals, but it can also make health care more cost-effective and improve our public health."
The strategic plan was mandated by President Bush in an April 27 executive order that also established the new Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS. The order requires a report within 90 days on progress toward a national strategy for harnessing health information technology. Health information technology has been a top priority for Secretary Thompson since taking the helm at HHS, and in April the President identified health information technology as one of the most important technology areas for America's future.
The report, to be presented by Secretary Thompson and National Coordinator David J. Brailer, M.D., Ph.D., will outline shared responsibilities of the public and private sectors in achieving the benefits of health information technology (HIT).
"To realize the benefits of health information technology quickly, we need coordination on a very broad scale. But what is needed most of all is partnerships and cooperation between the thousands of stakeholders in this complex enterprise," Secretary Thompson said. "This is a delicate balance, where the federal role is to lead AND to follow AND to get out of the way, all at the right times. The strategic framework laid out in the report will be a first step at getting that balance right."
The report will put forth a set of guiding principles, core goals and corresponding actions that will help guide the development of a national action plan.
"As the first national coordinator for health information technology, I am eager to help realize the Secretary's vision for a state-of-the-art health information infrastructure," Dr. Brailer said. "The strategic plan will lay the groundwork for an unprecedented collaboration between the private and public sectors to accomplish widespread adoption of health information technology that will reduce medical errors and improve patient safety."
The Institute of Medicine has estimated that medical errors result in 45,000 to 98,000 deaths each year in America's hospitals. Among the most important benefits expected from health information technology would be reduction in medical errors. In addition, by reducing duplicative or unnecessary care, HIT could produce savings estimated at $140 billion or more, some 10 percent of U.S. health care spending.
The report will be issued at a special Secretarial Summit on Health Information Technology that will launch this year's national health information infrastructure (NHII) conference, "Cornerstones for Electronic Healthcare." The conference will take place July 21-23 at the Washington Convention Center.
The event will build on the initial conference convened last year by HHS, and on Secretary Thompson's health information summit last month. Conference tracks include personal health; governance; incentives; standards and architecture; confidentiality; ethics; privacy and access; measuring progress; population health; and clinical research. The conference is endorsed by more than 50 national associations and organizations involved in health care and health information technology.
Registration for the conference is at www.hsrnet.net/nhii.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
Last Revised: June 25, 2004
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