ITI Hails Senate Markup of Bipartisan Health IT Bill
07.20.2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), a coalition of 32 top high-tech companies, hailed today’s Senate markup of bipartisan health care information technology legislation introduced by Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA). ITI is widely recognized as the tech industry's most effective lobbying organization in Washington.
“Bringing new technology to our hospitals isn’t just about having the latest gadgets. It’s about cutting health care costs, reducing errors, and saving lives,” ITI President and CEO Rhett Dawson said. “After this package becomes law – as I’m sure it will, given its strong bipartisan backing – we’ll all look back and wonder how our doctors and hospitals ever got by without this new technology.”
The Better Healthcare through Information Technology Act (S. 1355), considered today by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has received bipartisan support and is currently cosponsored by 13 Republicans, seven Democrats, and one Independent. ITI members met with Enzi last month to discuss his legislation.
Enzi and Kennedy’s legislation takes several steps toward bolstering health IT, including protecting the privacy of health information; codifying the Administration-created Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology; codifying Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt’s recently announced American Health Information Collaborative, to identify uniform national data standards; establishing health IT demonstration programs; and awarding matching grants to states, health care providers and academics.
Earlier this year, the House and Senate approved a Health Information Technology Reserve Fund as part of the FY 2006 Budget Resolution, which will allow committees of jurisdiction in the House and Senate to adjust allocations for Medicare and Medicaid entitlement programs in order to encourage health IT investment, so long as these adjustments do not increase the federal budget deficit for fiscal years 2006 through 2010.
Health IT facts:
- Widespread adoption of health IT can reduce health costs by as much as $140 billion a year.
- An estimated 45,000-98,000 people die every year from hospital medical errors -- more than motor vehicle accidents or breast cancer.
- The U.S. spends over $300 billion a year on the wrong treatments and up to $150 billion on administrative waste.
- In 2002, only 13% of hospitals and between 14% and 28% of doctors’ offices reported using electronic health records.
ABOUT ITI
The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) is an elite group of 32 top high-tech companies and is widely recognized as the tech industry's most effective lobbying organization in Washington. ITI helps member companies achieve their policy objectives through building relationships with Members of Congress, Administration officials, and foreign governments; organizing industry-wide consensus on policy issues; and working to enact tech-friendly government policies.
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