Health IT might not produce immediate savings, but it could improve quality of care, reduce health disparities

Health IT Now! Coalition on Friday at a Capitol Hill briefing asked lawmakers to pass legislation that would subsidize health care providers for the adoption of electronic health records, ensure interoperability among health care information technology platforms and address privacy concerns, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 6/13).

At the briefing, RAND researcher Richard Hillestad cited a study he led that found implementation of an interoperable health care IT system by 90% of the U.S. health care system would save $80 billion annually after 15 years. He added that preventive care and chronic disease management efforts that use health care IT could prevent 400,000 deaths and add 40 million workdays annually (Wyckoff, CQ HealthBeat, 6/13). Hillestad also said that use of health care IT could prevent more than 2.2 million adverse events related to medications annually (CongressDaily, 6/13).

RAND researcher Allen Fremont said that use of health care IT to collect and sort data could help determine the causes of health care disparities. Health care IT "is, in the short term, about errors," former Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.), a co-chair of the Health IT Now! Coalition, said, adding, "But in the long run, it's going to increase the intellectual capacity and treatment capability in the American health care system" (CQ HealthBeat, 6/13).