New Bill Promotes Health IT

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) introduced new legislation to address the healthcare crises of escalating costs and the number of uninsured persons in the US. The bill, Medicare for All, would provide universal health coverage through extensions to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and Medicare.

One of the proposed strategies to reduce healthcare costs included in the bill are incentives for adoption of health IT tools; particularly electronic health records and tools to support clinical decision making.

The bill’s authors cite the capacity of IT tools to reduce administrative costs while simultaneously reducing errors. Another benefit of integrating tools is the ability to more efficiently coordinate care for patients with chronic illness.

The program will be paid for with tax dollars. Individuals who obtain health insurance through employers would no longer contribute to those premiums. The bill claims to net $160 billion in savings annually.

Hospital Buyer

News for healthcare procurement decision makers