Picture of Health: Thank You, Dr. President

Kelly M. Teal
09/19/2008

It’s on the news daily. Health insurance costs are skyrocketing.

From 2001 to 2007, America’s health care spending grew 36 percent faster than the gross domestic product, said Insight Research’s Robert Rosenberg.

That fact has put health care center stage, arguably second only to the economy at large and Iraq, in the upcoming presidential election.

“I think that it is very likely that with the change of administration, be it Democrat or Republican, they’re going to finally have to tackle the hard question ... reforming our health care system,” said Rosenberg.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., promises that if he wins the presidency his administration will invest $10 billion per year over the next five years to get the health care industry using the same standards and relying on electronic, rather than paper, records. He also pledges to ensure patient privacy rights and reach “full implementation of health IT.”

Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., meanwhile, has pronounced that “greater use of information technology will reduce health care costs.”

“We should promote the rapid deployment of 21st Century information systems and technology that allows doctors to practice across state lines,” McCain has said.

However, Frost & Sullivan’s Imran Khan said if McCain takes office, “we’re unlikely to see major, dramatic changes in the health care area ... simply because it hasn’t been a big issue in his campaign.”

Of course, health care reform is more likely under an Obama presidency given it has long been a key issue for the Dems. But if Obama wins and pursues health care reform “he will have to come up with unique ideas. ... It is very, very difficult to go out and take on an anti-establishment position and expect it to work when health care insurance companies dominate the market, the large health care provider lobbies dominate the market,” noted Khan.

Of course, health care is going digital regardless of who wins the presidency and whether or not the health care system is reformed. But it doesn’t hurt that both parties “have strong appreciation” for IT in health care, said Microsoft Corp.’s Nate McLemore, director of business development for Microsoft’s health solutions group.

They each “seem to recognize that whatever reform initiatives are, that IT will play a role,” McLemore said.

Meanwhile, Congress needs to update or clarify digital provisions in the major privacy and internal controls laws, HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley, according to xchange sources. It looks as though lawmakers are prepared to address electronic medical records specifically. In June, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings on a draft bill that would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to set standards for eHealth information exchange as well as push physicians to adopt digital systems.

“There’s not necessarily an incentive for a small physician practice to have to pay to convert ... to standardized electronic format, but private enterprise is starting to step in,” noted Barry Zipp, executive director of managed business applications for Verizon Business. The former MCI is among the providers that want to get deeper into the health-information exchange business, he added, but it’s taking its time because of the absence of firm standards and adoption timelines.

“This is no short-term exercise,” Zipp said.

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