Statement on Healthcare within the Stimulus Package

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act currently contains a wide variety of important health policies.  However two issues—health information technology and health services research—have recently received intense scrutiny. The following statement is by David Merritt, Project Director at the Center for Health Transformation and editor of the award-winning book Paper Kills.

“While some criticize that a stimulus bill is the not right vehicle to address these priorities, we must acknowledge the fact that they are likely to be included in a final bill.

We also must acknowledge the good: modernizing our healthcare system through information technology and robust, comparative research will push our healthcare system into the 21st century. 

Getting the latest technology and breakthroughs into the hands of doctors, providers and patients is essential to transforming health.  The Center for Health Transformation advocates financial incentives to encourage physician adoption of health IT and data standards leading to interoperability and portable information.  There should be a reasonable certification process which represents both the public and private sectors. The Center also supports comparative effectiveness research allowing patients to understand which treatments, techniques and technologies actually work and which do not.  An informed patient is an empowered patient.

The proposed stimulus package generally addresses these issues in a positive way.  Innovative organizations across the country are already driving and delivering evidence-based medicine that delivers better, safer care for patients. 

In the Senate proposal, the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research (CER), a board which will advise Congress and the President on strategies regarding the infrastructure needs for comparative effectiveness research within the federal government will be established. While this board will help coordinate among the federal agencies, The Center believes the private sector must be represented to ensure an informed and innovative initiative.

With the right balance from the public and private sectors, this body could learn from the best of the private sector and recommend ways for other institutions to ultimately adopt best practices.

While fears are justified that this kind of research could indeed be a slippery slope to ultimately rationing care, that argument is not currently justifiable in the specific language of the bill.  There will be a fork in the road at some point in the future, where some will want to use knowledge and information to deny care and coverage, and others will use the information to improve the entire healthcare system.   But that fork is not before us today.  In fact, the Senate language has been very specific to say that comparative clinical effectiveness research would be the focus. 

The simple fact is this – smart policy that empowers individuals, emphasizes personal responsibility, incentivizes the use of modern tools of technology, and uses markets to increase choice and reduce costs.  Advancing HIT is smart policy despite whatever mechanism Congress might use to implement it.

Policymakers can help build America a 21st century intelligent health system.  That is something republicans and democrats can both agree on.”

Center for Health Transformation was founded by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and is under the direction of CEO Nancy Desmond co-authors of The Art of Transformation.