Health IT funding to create 50,000 jobs
side note: This was a big concern of ours when President Obama urged physicians and health care providers to begin the transition to EHR/EMR. Our IT staff voiced this concern after visiting the HIMSS convention at McCormick place in Chicago in early 2009. How would doctors, espcially in small 1-2 physician practices make the transition? These types of practices have the bare minimum to meet the day to day demands, how would they handle this? Who would provide IT support to thousands of practices? We even sent in letters to our representives in Congress and the White House to try and get an answer. Luckily, someone listened and we now see a clear path for IT support. Will EMR/EHR help physicians lower physician medical malpractice insurance costs? Well, we’re not quite sure yet…common sense says that it will, better and more accurate record keeping should help. But then again, when has “common sense” mattered to the people running this country in DC?
InsuranceBroadcasting.com
BOSTON — Federal dollars being pumped into grant programs to spur students to enter IT careers in the health care industry should help to create between 45,000 and 50,000 jobs over the next five years, a top federal health official said on Thursday.
Speaking at the Health Information Technology (HIT) Conference here, Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, said a portion of $2 billion in discretionary spending under Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) is being targeted at education and training for electronic health record implementation.
