Health IT News: Grassley Queries Hospitals, Microsoft's CEO Sees Need To Boost Tech For Doctors, Hospitals

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Modern Healthcare: "Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter asking 31 hospitals to report on their relationships with healthcare IT vendors, focusing on errors caused by IT systems and on so-called 'gag order or non-disclosure clauses' in vendor contracts that might prohibit the hospitals from disclosing information about system flaws." Grassley made a similar request to the IT vendors themselves last fall, and said his new letter was prompted by concern about taxpayers' investment in health IT as part of the economic stimulus (Conn, 1/20).

Nashville Business Journal: Meanwhile, "conditions are ripe for health care to embrace technology, an area where it lags at least a decade behind other major industries, says Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer." Ballmer said that with money on the way to support more widespread adoption, the technology industry should "step up with some enabling factors" (Wortham, 1/20).

Nashville Post: Ballmer said, "Why is this industry 10 years behind? Because the best of the IT industry can't operate, buying and selling is confused, the target market doesn't have capacity for IT, and that makes it a tough market to jump into" (Lawley, 1/20). Health IT News: Grassley Queries Hospitals, Microsoft's CEO Sees Need To Boost Tech For Doctors, Hospitals Modern Healthcare: "Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter asking 31 hospitals to report on their relationships with healthcare IT vendors, focusing on errors caused by IT systems and on so-called 'gag order or non-disclosure clauses' in vendor contracts that might prohibit the hospitals from disclosing information about system flaws." Grassley made a similar request to the IT vendors themselves last fall, and said his new letter was prompted by concern about taxpayers' investment in health IT as part of the economic stimulus (Conn, 1/20).

Nashville Business Journal: Meanwhile, "conditions are ripe for health care to embrace technology, an area where it lags at least a decade behind other major industries, says Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer." Ballmer said that with money on the way to support more widespread adoption, the technology industry should "step up with some enabling factors" (Wortham, 1/20).

Nashville Post: Ballmer said, "Why is this industry 10 years behind? Because the best of the IT industry can't operate, buying and selling is confused, the target market doesn't have capacity for IT, and that makes it a tough market to jump into" (Lawley, 1/20).

This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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