Patterson rebukes Brailer on national health IT strategy

Wall Street has long thought Cerner will benefit from the Bush administration's plan for a national health IT infrastructure. But now some people are wondering if relations have worsened between the well-connected company and the White House. Over the weekend, Cerner CEO Neal Patterson made remarks critical of National Health IT coordinator David Brailer's performance. Speaking at a Cerner event, Patterson expressed doubts about the way in which Brailer has handled government HIT contracts and his approach to RHIOs. Patterson was also critical of Brailer's opposition to a national patient identifier.

Conspiracy theorists might note that mainstream hospital software vendors (including, but not limited to, Cerner) are not noted for having their systems easily operate with those of competitors. If healthcare IT became truly interoperable, it might change the playing field on which they've been very successful. On the other hand, Patterson might just be shooting from the hip.

- see this report from Modern Healthcare