Article published in Modern Healthcare Oct 12, 2006

Federal government using size to drive IT investment, Leavitt says

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, speaking at a Midwest Business Group on Health meeting in Chicago, said the federal government is using both its market power and regulatory authority to drive investment in healthcare information technology and quality improvement. Leavitt cited new exceptions to physician self-referral law as one of the government’s positive actions. Meanwhile, the CMS is exploring ways to adjust Medicare reimbursement to subsidize healthcare IT, he said. “The macroeconomics of our entire economy has changed in the last 15 years, and the macroeconomics of medicine will change as well,” Leavitt said. “We’ll get to the point where it will become more expensive to practice medicine without electronic health records.” -- by Mark Taylor

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