GOP DOCTORS' CAUCUS

Health Information Technology

Health insurance reform should not stifle innovation or advancements in the medical field.  Health information technology has the potential to save more than $81 billion annually in health care costs.  From drastically reducing medical errors to streamlining administration, health IT is the key to transforming our healthcare system.  However, healthcare has been slow to transition into the information age due to the initial investment cost, a lack of uniform standards allowing information to be shared, and other systemic challenges.  Health IT brings the 18th century medical paper file system into 21st century medical care.  Under the current paper system, when a person is traveling or in the case of emergency, doctors may not have immediate access to a patient’s paper medical records.  Patients see multiple doctors and paper records are often scattered between different offices and their files are incomplete.  As a result, even the best doctors may not know all the medications a patient is on or all the tests they’ve had conducted.  This leads to costly repetitive tests and dangerous drug interactions.  Electronic medical records bring this tower of babble to an end.  In a matter of seconds, a patient’s complete medical record can be securely and confidentially transmitted to a doctor.  They help to avoid medical crisis and save lives.