A report from the Commission on U.S. Federal Leadership in Health and Medicine has found that the stimulus-fueled expansion of health IT could save as much as $261 billion over the next 10 years and begin the groundwork for an interoperable, patient-centered health system that could result in savings and better provided care.
The report, A 21st Century Roadmap for Advancing America’s Health: The Path from Peril to Progress, a project of the private-sector Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, cites that savings are contingent on widespread adoption of EHRs, but also the adoption of health IT to improve clinical decision making and providing safeguards against medical errors.
Researchers say the recently enacted healthcare reform law, in combination with the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, encourage national standards regarding electronic data submission to prevent fraud, standardized payment rules, and state level health information exchanges.
