Bill Clinton: “for several years now I have been promoting the adoption of health information technology as a means to improve our…”

“for several years now I have been promoting the adoption of health information technology as a means to improve our health care system. Modernizing our system will improve quality of care and reduce costs. A RAND study found that, as a nation, we could save more than $77 billion annually through the widespread use of electronic medical records, and these savings could double with the addition of prevention and chronic disease management components. I introduced comprehensive health quality and IT legislation in 2003 to set us on the path to creating a health IT infrastructure. Subsequently, the Senate unanimously passed bipartisan legislation that I worked on with Senators Frist, Kennedy, and Enzi. We were unable to reach final agreement on that bill before the adjournment of the 109th Congress and today are reintroducing the Wired for Healthcare Quality Act to bring our health care system into the 21st century. I am pleased to be working again on this critical effort with Senators Kennedy and Enzi and want to welcome Senator Hatch and thank him for his work and contributions to the bill we are introducing today. While there are a number of things I believe we need to do to improve our health care system, one of the most fundamental avenues for change is modernizing our system of care by developing a nationwide interoperable health information technology infrastructure that protects patient privacy.”