MaSSSoftech

SOUTH BURLINGTON -- Expanding the use of electronic health records and creating connections so the records move securely between health care providers are critical steps in reforming health care, according to Gov. Jim Douglas.
"It is going to facilitate the delivery of care substantially," he said Friday during a break in day-long conference he hosted on health technology. "And I think it is going to help cut costs."

Douglas is co-chairman of the State Alliance for E-Health, a group organized by the National Governors Association to help states promote the use of health information technology even before Congress and the Obama administration decided to invest billions of dollars to speed up the switch.

The federal economic stimulus legislation enacted last winter set aside $19.5 billion to accelerate the use of electronic records in doctors offices and hospitals and to spur development of a national exchange network for patients' health records.

Douglas and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen jointly ran the semi-annual meeting of the Alliance Friday at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center where Dr. David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information technology, opened the session.

Blumenthal is overseeing the development of rules for the distribution of the health information technology funding. One of the pending decisions is a definition for "meaningful use" of technology -- a criteria that will determine whether physicians qualify for receive extra payments from Medicare because they have installed electronic record-keeping.

"Adoption isn't an end in itself," Blumenthal reminded the Alliance. "If we don't focus on the purpose, we could waste a lot of resources getting computers into physician offices."

Blumenthal praised the Alliance for the work it had done already to promote electronic prescribing, but said there was much more to do. For example, states need to work out ways that regional information exchange networks can talk across state borders -- since patients crisscross borders to access their medical care.