CLEVELAND, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush Thursday urged creation of computerized medical records and e-prescriptions to reeduce medical costs and improve safety.
The administration's budget for fiscal 2006 includes $125 million in funding for projects to test the effectiveness of proposed health care IT programs. Bush said he will also ask Congress for an additional $50 million for an equal amount already allocated for IT in the fiscal 2005 budget.
"Most industries have used technology to make their businesses more cost-effective, more efficient and more productive, and the truth of the matter is heath care hasn't." he said. "We've got docs still writing records by hand."
Bush made his remarks at The Cleveland Clinic, a highly computerized facility that uses e-prescriptions, electronic medical data sharing with area physicians and online second physician opinions for patients.
Improved health care IT, he said, is an integral part of reforming America's health care system, improving service and efficiency and bringing down costs.
Bush noted the Department of Health and Human Services Thursday announced new rules to make electronic prescriptions available for Medicare patients beginning in 2006.
