For many years now, people in both the public and private sectors have agreed that health information technology is vital to the future of our healthcare system. We are now turning this vision into a reality, and America is getting serious about health IT.
There is an increased level of support for IT coming from Washington. President Obama and Congress have committed their support to widespread adoption of health information technology. Also, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is developing a long-term plan for “meaningful use.” Such support helps to lay a solid foundation upon which we can increase adoption of health IT on an unprecedented scale.
However, our goals must extend beyond merely increasing the level of health IT adoption. We have to find ways to use the technology to transform healthcare — to improve the quality of care by providing resources for a new level of informed and involved consumer.
This is where you come in — the men and women of the healthcare and information technology communities. My experience in the clinic I founded in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, taught me valuable lessons regarding health IT. When Hurricane Katrina was the third storm to destroy our clinic, I knew we needed to have an electronic medical record.
But it was not until six months later, after a fire destroyed our rebuilt clinic, that I knew we could not afford to be without an EHR system any longer. The totally integrated EHR has improved the quality of care the patients receive and lightened the workload of the clinicians. It has now become part of everyday life in the clinic.
Today, healthcare in America faces another kind of storm. In light of increased costs and increased demand, we have to find ways to make healthcare more accessible, and more portable with improved health results for patients.
It is now time to engage the patients and consumers into the IT world. Engaging them in patient portals and other resources such as the “Surgeon General’s Web-based family health history tool” will allow them to be more active in their own health. We have a formidable job ahead of us, and much yet to learn. But we also have the potential that was unthinkable just a few years ago.
Each of you attending this conference can help us achieve that potential. I salute everyone gathered in Atlanta, and I challenge you to aim high to use IT to improve the health of Americans and those around the world.
Information about the Surgeon General’s web-based family health history tool, and its new connectivity with EHRs and other web-based services, is available at http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory
