CCIA Files Health IT Comments With HIT Policy Committee
6/26/2009
Washington – As the Obama administration takes steps to bring down health
care costs, it has asked for public comments due today on the Meaningful
Use of Health Information Technology. The Computer & Communications
Industry Association shares the Administration’s view that HIT has the
power to bring down health care costs and submitted comments today on how
to best ensure the economic and productivity gains are indeed realized. The
following comments can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Ed Black:
“Even when our citizens receive the medical care they need, they often
cannot understand what treatment they received, what they were billed, what
was covered, and what they owe. A ‘cat’s cradle’ of tangled healthcare
paperwork has tied the American people, medical practitioners and
institutions in knots for many years and has gotten steadily worse --
significantly increasing the cost of the U.S. healthcare system in ways
that are wasteful and completely non-productive.
“Health IT can help save money in administering health care and make health
costs more transparent to all. But to realize the real efficiency, cost and
productivity gains, the definition of Meaningful Use of HIT must clearly
and explicitly include the actual administration of healthcare within its
meaning, down to the individual practice level.
“For the scope of ‘Meaningful Use’ to truly be meaningful, the eventual
definition must be broadened to include more than just the direct provision
of medical care itself. It must also clearly and specifically include the
electronic modernization of the administration of that healthcare in
individual and group practices, as well as clinics, hospitals and other
healthcare entities and facilities.”
See file: CCIAMeaningfulUseComments.pdf
Contact:
Heather Greenfield
202-783-0070 ext 113
Ed Black
202-783-0070 ext 110
