Investment in innovative new treatments and IT systems is the prescription for treating the country's soaring health care costs. That is according to Senator Edward Kennedy who gave the keynote address at the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Summit last week in Washington D.C. The Summit was held in conjunction with National Health IT Week.
Investment in IT will also help to increase efficiency and reduce medical errors, said Kennedy. The Democratic senator from Massachusetts stressed the importance of bipartisan legislation. While the Senate did pass the "Wired for Health Care Quality Act" six months ago, it is up to both sides to cooperate and work together find solutions. Areas cited by Kennedy as being particularly important to address in legislation are grant programs, establishing RHIOs and federal/state partnerships, providing for low interest loans, and developing best practice centers to help healthcare providers keep up-to-date.
