Former US House Speaker Gingrich Advocates Universal EHR System To Improve Safety

Main Category: IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 09 Nov 2005 - 5:00 PDT

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Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on Friday discussed electronic health records and suggested that Congress should regulate hospitals to make EHRs universal, the Dayton Daily News reports. Gingrich told about 350 health care and business executives at a health care summit in Dayton, Ohio, that EHRs would help to enhance safety and reduce medical errors. He said, "We set a public ground rule that for you to be an airline, you've got to be safe," adding, "We don't do that with hospitals. We should." He added, "A Republican Congress that's serious will pass an electronic health records program for every American." Gingrich, who founded the Center for Health Transformation, "advocated the Democratic ideal of universal coverage through the Republican principle of individually purchased health insurance, enabling people to make their own health care decisions," the Daily News reports. For example, a Web site that would provide information regarding prescription and over-the-counter drugs could help consumers to compare prices and side effects, he said (Lamb, Dayton Daily News, 11/7).

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