They were once bitter enemies. But Hillary Clinton and Newt Gingrich are now allies, at least as far as the need to move to national system of electronic health records is concerned. The unlikely pair held a news conference in Washington yesterday to announce their support for more federal support of IT investment in the health care field. Gingrich, who heads the Center for Health Care Transformation, a pro-technology group in Washington, has long been an advocate of government investment in the field. Clinton said the time for a modernization drive is now, saying "I can't think of another industry that is so reliant on pen and paper."
For more Clinton & Gingrich:
- see this story [1] from the Washington Post
PLUS: On the other side of town similar sentiments were to be heard from HHS head Mike Leavitt, who told an audience at the CEO health care summit sponsored by the National Business Roundtable that government needs to throw its support behind the transformation effort if it is to succeed. Leavitt presented a new report written by his agency which backs funding for the goal.
For more on Leavitt's talk:
- see this story [2] from Federal Computer Week
Links:
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/12/AR2005051200191.html
[2] http://www.fcw.com/article88835-05-11-05-Web