Excerpt from a recent report titled: "Health Care Technology in 2009: A Look at the Hottest Tech Trends in Patient Care" - Click to buy the Report

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes a groundbreaking piece of legislation that will change the health care industry as we know it, and create new opportunities for IT providers.  The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) is the part of the stimulus package that specifically addresses healthcare. It provides for $19 billion to be spent on health information technology, and the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs). According to the House Committee on Ways and Means, the HITECH Act addresses four specific goals: 

·         “Requiring the government to take a leadership role to develop standards by 2010 that allow for the nationwide electronic exchange and use of health information to improve quality and coordination of care.

·         Investing $20 billion in health information technology infrastructure and Medicare and Medicaid incentives to encourage doctors and hospitals to use HIT [health information technology] to improve quality and coordination of care.

·         Saving the government $10 billion, and generating additional savings throughout the health sector, through improvements in quality of care and care coordination, and reductions in medical errors and duplicative care.

·         Strengthening Federal privacy and security law to protect identifiable health information from misuse as the health care sector increases use of Health IT." 

According to the Congressional Budget Office, within the next ten years, 90 percent of doctors and 70 percent of hospitals will be using comprehensive electronic health records as a result of the programs put in place by the HITECH Act. The legislation also establishes a process for developing standards for the nationwide electronic exchange of information between health providers by the end of 2009, and further establishes a certification process for health information technology products. Certification will be carried out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The legislation funds several areas of health care IT, including training, dissemination of best practices, telemedicine, inclusion of health information technology in clinical education, and State grants for promoting health information technology.