The Evidence for HIT

Recent studies raising questions about the benefits of electronic health records (EHRs) are informative, but limited in their applicability to our health information technology (HIT) program. To the extent that they accurately capture past experience with EHRs, these studies illustrate something that the Congress and the President understand and have allowed for: namely, that having an EHR alone is not sufficient. Doctors and hospitals have to use this technology effectively, have to employ its extraordinary power to improve clinical decisions, in order to achieve its potential benefits. The federal government's new programs of incentives and penalties are totally focused on encouraging the meaningful use of EHRs. The resources set aside by the Congress to encourage the adoption of EHRs will go only to physicians, hospitals, and other providers who meet carefully designed new requirements for the use of EHRs that will translate into health improvements and cost reductions for the American people. And the plan passed by Congress includes new resources and support that will help make it possible for providers and hospitals to meet these requirements. We have already announced the availability of grants that will help providers adopt and use EHRs, and we will be making additional announcements in the weeks and months ahead. Sometimes bold steps are required to improve the human condition. Among the most successful health and social programs in American history are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Community Health Center Program, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. It would have been a tragic mistake, costing untold thousands of lives and enormous suffering, if we had foregone or delayed these programs. I believe the HIT initiative will rank with these huge successes in the value it will bring to the American people over the years to come.