Obama’s Re-Election Means Continuing Support for Health IT
A week out since the elections and in today’s world you could have an eBook on Amazon by now on the subject. But for those who don’t want to read a book from just one perspective I have compiled a small reading list that focuses on where we might see the policies of technology and health IT heading the next four years.
And who better to start with than Obama himself on election night in his acceptance speech. He vows that he wants America to be “a country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation, with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow.” Next we might want to hear from ONC Mostashari. Kyle Murphy posts on EHR Intelligence, National Coordinator highlights election’s effect on health IT. Not surprising Mostashari is motivated to move forward and his takeaway, the “value of data”. GovHealthIT.com’s Mary Mosquera also reports on the ONC’s reaction to the elections in her piece, Mostashari: Obama reelection points to critical role of data.
Industry insiders
Organizations have an opinion too. Healthcare IT News reported on both the AMA and CHIME. While AMA congratulates the President, they are committed to work with Congress and the administration to “continue to reform healthcare”. CHIME believes the outcome brings stability to the work that ONC and CMS are doing for health IT. Read Erin McCann’s CHIME, others weigh in on Obama’s win. Becker’s Hospital Review’s Molly Gamble checked in with healthcare leaders for their reactions to the election in her piece, The 2012 Election: Hospital and Healthcare Leaders React. McKnights’s Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living thinks the re-election means more support for health IT. They are reporting that interoperability will be a main 2013 focus in their article, Health IT projected to continue advances.
Technology Community
Health IT is part of the bigger agenda and industry of Technology. The tech sites are all over what we can expect. Investment Researcher Schaeffer’s Outside the Box Blog posted, 7 Reasons Why Obama’s Policies Are Great for the Tech Industry. From cyber security to continuing support of health IT, they see the future as bright. Tech News Daily cites the Top 5 Tech Initiatives for Obama’s Second Term, health IT is on this list too. Author and thought leader in mobile technology and personal computing, Brian Proffitt penned, How Technology Will Fare in President Obama’s Second Term for ReadWrite. He believes the first term efforts in broadband for rural communities taken on through HHS will likely have continued support and help surrounding communities.
What If
And although it is a moot point now and we speculated for the last 18 month on what would happen and what would change, this was an interesting article that actually showed what looked like a direction we might have been dealing with if the elections had been different. TecTarget at SearchHealthIT reported the end of the EHR incentives and outsourcing of HIT standards development to vendors. Their source was Dr. John Halamka, CIO for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Read Don Fluckinger’s Romney planned to change HIT standards development, end EHR incentives.