Quotes

Notable Quotes
(in reverse chronological order)

"With so many heavy hitters in government -- starting with President Bush -- pushing for their use, the question of physicians' adoption of electronic medical records is not if, but when."

American Medical News - Newspaper of the American Medical Association (AMA);

Editorial;

July 5, 2004

"This [investment] was not made with ROI in mind. We viewed this as something we had to do so we can improve patient care and go paperless. The real ROI here is the increased functionality we are getting to do the things we need to do. And it's hard to put a number on this. How do you put an ROI on helping patients?"

Peter Dougherty, Touro Infirmary CIO;

Remarks in Health-IT World article: Bigger IBM Mainframe to Help Touro Infirmary Go Paperless;

July 1, 2004

"Physician confidence (in electronic records) in the ambulatory setting will translate to more adoption in the hospital setting... That’s where a lot of focus will be, in how to stimulate interest in creating a national fabric of technology."

David Brailer, MD, National Coordinator for Healthcare Information Technology;

Remarks during media briefing to reaffirm commitment to push the healthcare industry toward rapid implementation of healthcare IT;

June 25, 2004

"I am absolutely passionate about moving this ball down the field because it is so important in reducing mistakes in medicine and improving practice, We are on the cusp of changing the way medicine is practiced...We are going to use the reimbursement system to encourage good practices.”

Tommy Thompson, Health and Human Services Secretary;

Remarks during media briefing to reaffirm commitment to push the healthcare industry toward rapid implementation of healthcare IT;

June 25, 2004

"Paper records and prescriptions kill. Mistakes made by depending on [and using] paper keep happening; the thing is, they're avoidable. Everyday that we don't act, people will continue to die unnecessarily."

former House Speaker Newt Gingrich;

Remarks at 2004 Frontiers of Health Care Conference at Brown University;

June 22, 2004

"If the health care industry doesn't move quickly to automate, there are politicians in Washington that are itching to have the government regulate all aspects of the market for electronic records. The Bush administration feels that this would place unacceptable limits on the flexibility of physicians to buy products that work best for their practices, and it doesn’t want to place mandates and regulations on the market."

David Brailer, M.D.,
National Health Information Technology Coordinator
at the Department of Health and Human Services;

Remarks at National Alliance for Health Information Technology's Annual Membership Meeting;

June 16, 2004

"To assure that modern information technology will be fully utilized in health care, [my] legislation sets a goal of full implementation of a broad-based system of electronic medical records and automated bill-paying. It authorizes grants, loans and loan guarantees for health providers to install and implement clinical information systems that meet national technical standards for parameters such as security and interoperability. The bill also offers larger reimbursements for providers who implement these types of information systems. Over a period of time, it reduces payments for large health care facilities that fail to do so."

Senator Edward Kennedy;

Press Release;

May 13, 2004

"Americans deserve a seamless and secure national health information infrastructure. This system must provide accurate, complete patient data to providers wherever they are, in time to be useful-even in an emergency. It must allow doctors to prescribe medications electronically, so the medications can be checked for safety before they are administered. And it must do all this without revealing personally identifiable information without the patient's consent."

Tommy Thompson,
Secretary of Health and Human Services;

Remarks at Health IT Summit;

May 6, 2004

"If all Americans' electronic health records were connected in secure computer networks that safeguarded patient privacy, health care providers would have complete records for their patients, so they would no longer have to re-order tests that have already been done…. widespread adoption of technology will depend in large part on federally organized public-private partnerships."

Congressman Patrick Kenney
& former Speaker Newt Gingrich;

Op-ed in New York Times,
Operating in a vacuum;

May 3, 2004

"Medicine ought to be using modern technologies in order to better share information, in order to reduce medical errors, in order to reduce cost to our health care system by billions of dollars...Within ten years, every American must have a personal electronic medical record. The federal government has got to take the lead in order to make this happen by developing what's called technical standards."

President George W. Bush;

Remarks at American Association of Community Colleges Annual Convention;

April 26, 2004

"I have introduced legislation that promotes the use of information technology to update our health care system and organize it around the best interests of patients. Improvements in technology will end the paper chase, limit errors and reduce the number of malpractice suits…. By better using technology, we can lower health care costs throughout the system and thereby lower the exorbitant premiums that are placing a financial squeeze on businesses, individuals and the government."

Senator Hilary Clinton;

Op-ed in New York Times,
Now can We Talk about Health Care?;

April 18, 2004

"By computerizing health records, we can avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs, and improve care."

President George W. Bush;

State of the Union Address;

January 20, 2004

"Significant performance improvement will only be accomplished by tracking dramatic, system-level changes. The courageous among us will get there first, achieving performance levels never imagined by previous generations."

Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP,
President and CEO,
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI);

IHI 2004 Progress Report

"The establishment of the Center signals the importance for both members and leaders of the AAFP of the need to move from paper-based to computerized information systems in the family physicians office."

Douglas E. Henley, M.D., AAFP Executive Vice President;

Press Release - American Academy of Family Physicians Establishes Center for Health Information Technology;

September 25, 2003

"We want to build a standardized platform on which physicians' offices, insurance companies, hospitals and others can all communicate electronically, which will improve patient care while reducing the medical errors and the high costs plaguing our health care system."

Secretary Tommy G. Thompson;

News Release - HHS Launches New Efforts to Promote Paperless Healthcare System;

July 1, 2003