News Release

Statement by Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Regarding the Health Information Technology Bill of Senators Frist and Clinton

One of President Bush's most urgent priorities is eliminating medical errors, which kill 44,000 to 98,000 Americans every year in hospitals.

Last year, to prevent errors and save lives, the President set an aggressive goal of making electronic health records available to a majority of Americans within ten years. Electronic health records and other information technology will transform our health care system, resulting in fewer mistakes, lower costs, better care and less hassle.

Last week, I announced the formation of the American Health Information Community, a public-private collaboration that will recommend common standards for electronic health records. We also issued four requests for proposals to invite the private sector to help us advance this process.

Today, I welcome the interest of Senators Frist and Clinton, who are introducing a bill on this topic. I look forward to working with them, and with people around the country, to make electronic medical records secure, accessible and portable for everyone.