Press Release
KENNEDY DISCUSSES IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH IT AND THE WIRED FOR HEALTH CARE QUALITY ACT OF 2005
KENNEDY ADDRESSES MASSACHUSETTS eHEALTH CONFERENCE VIA VIDEO
On December 5th, Senator Edward M. Kennedy delivered the keynote address via video at the Massachusetts eHealth Conference held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. This conference brought together doctors, nurses, medical professionals and health care industry leaders to discuss the importance of moving towards health information technology to cut costs and increase the quality of care.
“All of us are proud that our Commonwealth is at the forefront of developing and implementing health information technology, through initiatives such as the Massachusetts e-Health Collaborative, Mass SHARE, the Hospital Computerized Physician Order Entry initiative, and many others across the state,” said Senator Kennedy.
The Congress is beginning to take action. Last month, the United States Senate passed the Wired for Health Care Quality Act of 2005 by unanimous consent. This bipartisan legislation, introduced by Senator Kennedy and Senator Enzi (R-WY), sets forth the goal posts for improving health care through technology, reducing administrative costs and diminishing fatal errors caused by lack of information. Senator Kennedy has been speaking out on the benefits and need for health information technology since 1977.
IT systems are linked securely and with strong privacy protections to a patient's medical records and can improve care by warning a doctor or nurse if an order or prescription may harm a patient. These systems can issue reminders for screening tests, so that needed preventive care is not overlooked. Computerized records also allow doctors to look at a patient's entire medical record at once, improving care coordination in our fragmented health care system. Additionally, the savings from better IT use are enormous. The Federal government's estimate is that the nation
REMARKS OF SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY MASSACHUSETTS e-HEALTH CONFERENCE:
DECEMBER 5, 2005 (As Delivered via Videotape)
I wish I could be with you in person today to hear about the astonishing advances being made across the Commonwealth in using information technology to save lives and make health care more affordable. This is one time that I’d rather not have to rely on IT, but a family commitment has prevented me from attending this impressive conference.
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the New England Health Care Institute deserve great credit for hosting this gathering of health care leaders.. I commend Governor Romney for making health IT such a high priority and in improving the quality of health care in our Commonwealth.
I also commend Dr. David Brailer for his pioneering work in promoting widespread adoption of health information technology.
We live in a new age of medical miracles. Diagnosing a faulty heart valve or a blocked artery once meant risky and traumatic exploratory surgery – but today, a doctor can make the diagnosis with a miniature camera and fiber optic cable, and the patient can walk out of the office moments later.
The genius of scientists and the energy of biotechnology companies across Massachusetts and throughout the nation have transformed many previously lethal diseases into treatable conditions – and the research being done today will lead to even more remarkable cures in the future.
Even a few years ago, it would have seemed inconceivable to decipher the entire sequence of the human genetic code – the very blueprint of life. But that extraordinary breakthrough in this new century of the life sciences was only the beginning.
Information technology can revolutionize medicine just as profoundly as any of these medical discoveries. Today, patients waste countless hours waiting for lost charts to be retrieved from distant archives or for tests to be repeated. Doctors treat patients without complete information. Lives are lost from avoidable errors. Billions of dollars are squandered on needless paperwork. None of this should be tolerated in a nation that spends more on health care than any other. None of this should be tolerated in the nation that has the best doctors, nurses, health professionals, scientists and hospitals in the world, the nation that gave birth to the computer industry and the internet.
We know what IT can do. We need to make the strongest possible commitment to bring its benefits to every patient in every hospital and every doctor’s office in America.
All of us are proud that our Commonwealth is at the forefront of developing and implementing this technology, through initiatives such as the Massachusetts e-Health Collaborative, Mass SHARE, the Hospital Computerized Physician Order Entry initiative, and many others across the state.
As we know, many health care providers can’t afford the cost of new equipment or the time to train staff and move to new computer systems. It costs a physician’s office about $30,000—and much disruption—to install the technology. The costs are borne immediately, but the savings are realized only in the longer term. That’s a major barrier for hospitals, physicians, and nursing homes already drowning in red ink.
Here in Massachusetts, we’re beginning to reduce the barriers. Because of efforts like yours, our state is well on its way to developing the nation’s first state-wide medical records system. The rest of the country has much to learn from you.
We know that information technology is not a panacea. But it can help close the gaps in healthcare by improving coordination of care, offering guidance on best practices in each field, and alerting physicians when it's time to schedule preventive screenings. Information technology can also help lower the costs of care, by eliminating costly paper records and preventing expensive mistakes. It has the potential to increase coverage of the uninsured, by freeing up substantial funds now allocated for administrative expenses.
Congress is beginning to listen to the call to action. A major IT bill finally passed the Senate two weeks ago with broad support, and I’m proud to be part of it. Its primary goals are to develop national standards for the technology, fund the adoption of IT systems around the country, and spread the benefits of new medical technology to all our citizens.
The proposal creates a public-private partnership to develop standards of interoperability for new systems, with financial assistance for hard-pressed providers to acquire and use IT systems that meet these standards. It establishes a Best Practices Center, where IT users can learn from others’ experience, and creates a Help Line to assist providers with technical questions. To help doctors sort through the array of IT options, we establish a certification program so that any provider can quickly determine whether a particular option meets the applicable technical standards.
Hopefully, the legislation can be signed into law by the end of the year, because it’s long overdue.
Information technology is helping us to put the quality of healthcare and access to healthcare at the top of the health agenda, not treat them as an after-thought. It’s really all of you who are showing us the way, through the remarkable progress you’ve made in Massachusetts. I commend you for all you’ve done so far, and I look forward very much to working with you in the years ahead, to achieve its extraordinary potential. Thank you very much.
