Advancing health reform with Health Information Technology (HIT)
By Teresa Carlson, Microsoft Vice President of U.S. Federal Government Sales
This week’s Presidential Town Hall meeting , a “National Discussion on Health Care Reform,” brings even greater focus to an issue that’s been consuming the headlines for the past few months. As healthcare reform heats up in the halls of Congress and within the administration, there’s no doubt our nation’s health care system is broken. Yet the very way that technology and social media are playing a role in the dialogue tells us that the power of IT can and should be part of the solution. As President Obama said in his remarks, "we have to build on the investments in electronic medical records that we've already made in the Recovery Act - records that will reduce medical errors, save lives, save money, and still ensure privacy.”
The entire healthcare environment is challenged economically and it is fragmented by disparate processes and systems. The drive for safer, more affordable and accessible quality care is complex and deserves strong deliberation and the input of many voices, particularly patient advocates and medical providers.
As the discussion continues beyond the YouTube questions the President answered yesterday, IT will play a strong role and central piece of the solution. Health Information Technology (HIT) can help improve quality, increase efficiencies, and pave the road to patient-centered care.
Healthcare organizations, however, must not use HIT to simply digitize disconnected systems in a way that creates additional electronic silos, but instead they should invest in interoperable systems that can communicate freely in a multi-vendor environment. For example, Microsoft’s HealthVault provides a common platform that accelerates development, promotes open data exchange, and improves security.
Now more than ever, there is both need and opportunity to transform the healthcare industry through technology so that those closest to the process – doctors, patients, health care professionals – all have access to the information and knowledge they need to do their jobs most effectively and efficiently. The true potential of healthcare IT – and of overall health system reform – will not be realized until we improve the delivery and management of healthcare processes.
