Cantwell Announces Legislation to Reduce Medical Errors with Better Technology in Hospitals and Clinics
Doctors would get patient history, test results faster; saving lives and $140 billion every year
SPOKANE, WA – During a demonstration of medical technology used at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced details of legislation that would reduce medical errors and save lives by coordinating and improving technology in clinics and hospitals.
A study by the Institute of Medicine estimates that 98,000 lives are lost and $300 billion is spent every year because of medical errors, making it the 8th leading cause of death in America, ahead of car accidents, AIDS, and breast cancer. Senator Cantwell and healthcare officials believe that improved healthcare information technology systems would drastically reduce these errors by providing doctors with patient history and test results faster and more efficiently, saving lives and $140 billion annually.
"Doctors use technology every day to help save lives," Cantwell said. "If we work together to get new technology in hospitals and clinics throughout the country, we'll be able to save even more lives."
Cantwell joined a bipartisan group of 20 other senators to introduce the Health Information Technology Improvement Act (S. 1355) last week. As the vast majority of healthcare in America is delivered by small physician practices, the legislation will provide funding to help smaller providers implement health information systems. Additionally, this bill will provide funds to develop training programs so that our future healthcare professionals are equipped to deal with the technology of tomorrow.
The federal government will distribute these funds through grants, and also provide states with capital to make low-interest loans to their healthcare providers.
The bill will also establish national standards that will govern how information is shared among providers, making security and privacy a top priority.
A study from the Institute of Medicine estimates that 20 percent of all medical tests are duplicative, as doctors find it faster to repeat a test than to search for results of past tests. This creates an incredible amount of waste, only adding to America 's already-skyrocketing medical costs.
"The U.S. ranks 13 th out of the 16 most developed countries when it comes to using technology to manage our healthcare records," Cantwell said. "We already have some of the best doctors in the world. With the right tools, patients will be served with even better healthcare."
In addition to test results and patient history, health information technology extends to E-prescribing, telemedicine, telepharmacy, and electronic communications between patients and providers.
"Someday it will be as easy to access our personal medical information as it is to access financial information from an ATM while still protecting a patient's privacy. The technology to do this exists, we just need to get it into hospitals and clinics throughout the country," Cantwell stated.
Inland Northwest Health Services, which is a consortium of five Spokane-area hospitals, is considered a leader in health information technology in the state. Sacred Heart's healthcare professionals use wireless handheld computers to instantly update medical records, and advanced software to communicate with pharmacies 24-hours-a-day in Pullman and Othello.
Several other Washington state hospitals are in the process of updating their systems. By 2010, doctors at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue will use tablet computers instead of paper charts, with fingerprint identification required for access. Evergreen Medical Center in Kirkland switched to computerized patient charts in December of 2003, and Virginia Mason Medical Center will complete its digital shift this summer.
The legislation supported by Cantwell will help foster a public-private partnership, allowing proven leaders in health information technology to share their knowledge with the government and local community health centers to develop the fastest, most complete, and safest system in the world.
Named the American Health Information Collaboration (AHIC), the partnership will include patient advocates, providers, and other stakeholders. The AHIC will be tasked with determining how data is stored, shared and secured. The group's recommendations on standards, data exchange and security needs will go to the president and, once approved by Congress, will serve as the guidelines for federal health IT projects.
Cantwell believes many of Washington state's healthcare providers will help serve as models for a national strategy.
"Many Washington state hospitals have been leaders in this technology, but we need to make sure our community health centers also have access to this level of patient care," Cantwell added.
Cantwell was joined at Sacred Heart Medical Center by Skip Davis, the center's CEO, Kris Becker, who heads up the electronic medical records department, and Denny Lordon, from the center's TelePharmacy. Along with Tom Fritz, the executive director of Inland Northwest Health Services, and Amy Johnson from the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, the group toured the facility and discussed existing technology and expansion possibilities. Lordon demonstrated the TelePharmacy system by connecting with a pharmacy in Othello.
Her trip to Sacred Heart was Cantwell's third "Health IT" tour in as many days in Washington state hospitals. She visited Vancouver's Southwest Washington Medical Center on Wednesday and Seattle's Swedish Medical Center on Thursday. # # #
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