Originally Published MX May/June 2005
EDITOR'S PAGE
High-Level Buy-In for IT
When you're trying to accomplish a complex series of tasks—especially ones that involve government agencies—it's good to have friends in high places.
Getting just such support is at least one purpose of a recent white paper, Health Information Technology Leadership Panel: Final Report, which focuses on the need for wider adoption of information technologies (IT) in healthcare. The report compiles the recommendations of a panel of corporate business leaders convened for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Participants in the panel were corporate executives of large companies that purchase a substantial amount of healthcare for their employees, including FedEx, General Motors, International Paper, Johnson Controls, Pepsico, Procter & Gamble, Target, Wal-Mart, and Wells Fargo.
The report was released by HHS secretary Mike Leavitt at the Business Roundtable’s CEO Health Care Summit at the beginning of May. Speaking to the key themes of the report, Leavitt said, "Working in close collaboration, the federal government and private sector can drive changes that will lead to fewer medical errors, lower costs, less hassle, and better care." Among a variety of recommendations, the report identifies three imperatives related to healthcare IT:
- Widespread adoption of interoperable health IT should be a top priority for the U.S. healthcare system.
- The federal government should use its leverage as the nation's largest healthcare payer and provider to drive adoption of health IT.
- Private sector purchasers and healthcare organizations can and should collaborate alongside the federal government to drive adoption of health IT.
Government agencies will have to exercise leadership, but by gaining the support of execs from some of the nation's largest corporations, HHS has cleared a path toward rapid development and adoption of IT.
Copyright ©2005 MX
