Gordon’s Committee Examines Ways To Improve Healthcare IT
September 26, 2007, WASHINGTON – Furthering efforts to create a national system of secure, interoperable healthcare, U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon chaired a congressional hearing to examine progress toward the broad use of information technology in healthcare.
“There is common agreement that the widespread use of electronic healthcare records would improve patient care and decrease costs,” said Gordon, chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee. “Nonetheless, the healthcare industry lags behind the financial, manufacturing and retail sectors in using information technology. One reason for that is the healthcare industry lacks interoperable systems that would also ensure privacy and data security.”
Information technology, or IT, can be used in the healthcare field to improve efficiency and reduce errors. Without interoperable IT systems, patients must remember all of their own healthcare records, including history and medication. Duplicated forms and repeated healthcare histories waste time and manpower for patients and doctors, and relying on healthcare information directly from patients is often risky because a patient’s records may be incomplete, especially in an emergency situation.
Despite those risks, the entry of IT into the healthcare arena has been slow and disjointed. Only 12 percent of practices with five or fewer physicians have adopted electronic healthcare records, but most Americans receive their primary healthcare at small practices.
In today’s hearing, the committee also examined the need for legislation aimed at the adoption of standards for healthcare IT. Gordon has introduced a bill, H.R. 2406, to address those standards.
“Unless the technical standards are developed to ensure the interoperability, privacy and security of electronic healthcare records, little progress will be made in this area,” said Gordon. “We must make sure health IT systems are interoperable before any major investment is made. Otherwise, money will be spent, but patient services may not improve.”
Gordon’s bill would authorize the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish guidelines to promote the integration of health IT systems. The bill aims to enable systems to operate seamlessly throughout the country so patients have up-to-date information available whenever they visit a physician, specialist or hospital.
Electronic healthcare records and other IT applications could save billions of dollars and save thousands of lives by reducing medical errors and miscommunication. According to the Institute of Medicine, as many as 98,000 people die in hospitals each year from medical errors such as incorrect medications and improper diagnoses.
