Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago.
Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago.
The government is handing over $1.2 billion in grants to help health care providers take their medical records digital. A huge chunk of the grants, $598 million, will go towards creating 70 Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers, which will provide technical assistance to hospitals and doctors. Another $564 million will go to states to support to help them share patient information within and across state lines.
Vice President Joe Biden made the announcement today in Chicago alongside Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
"With electronic health records, we are making health care safer; we're making it more efficient; we're making you healthier; and we're saving money along the way, "Biden said in the announcement in Chicago. "These are four necessities we need for healthcare in the 21st-century."
The U.S. has a long way to go before every American has an EMR (electronic medical record). David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health information technology, says right now "only 20 percent of physicians and 10 percent of hospitals have meaningful electronic records." One notable exception is Massachusetts, a leader in EMRs, it's estimated that 30 to 50 percent of the Bay State currently uses them.
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