1Designating Tuesday, May 8, 2013, as "Pennsylvania Health Care
2Information Technology Awareness Day."

3WHEREAS, Health care costs represent 17.6% of gross domestic
4product nationally; and

5WHEREAS, Seventy percent of health care transactions are
6paper-based; and

7WHEREAS, The health care industry invests only 5% of revenue
8on information technology and management systems versus 10.5% of
9other data-intensive industries such as banking; and

10WHEREAS, The United States spends more than $2.6 trillion on
11health care a year, or 17.6% of the gross domestic product, yet
12some of that spending is unnecessary and spent on clinical and
13administrative waste, theft and excess costs; and

14WHEREAS, Spending on health care has risen more than 40% in
15the last decade; and

16Whereas, In Pennsylvania, medical assistance (Medicaid)

1spending in 2010 was $18.7 billion; and

2Whereas, A study by the Commonwealth Fund has demonstrated
3that the use of automated clinical decision support systems can
4result in the net reduction of $538 per patient per hospital
5stay; and

6WHEREAS, The Institute of Medicine reports there are at least
71.5 million preventable adverse drug events per year, each
8adding more than $8,700 to the cost of a hospital stay; and

9WHEREAS, The American Hospital Association reports that
10Pennsylvania's hospitals and health systems are outpacing
11hospitals nationally in their adoption and use of clinical
12information technology and information management systems; and

13WHEREAS, Health care providers in this Commonwealth report an
14improved ability to recruit physicians coming out of medical
15school when advanced information technology is employed at their
16sites; and

17WHEREAS, In 2012, Senate Bill 8 was signed into law, enacting
18the Pennsylvania eHealth Information Technology Act and
19establishing the Pennsylvania eHealth Partnership Authority and
20a health information exchange; therefore be it

21RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate
22Wednesday, May 8, 2013, as "Pennsylvania Health Care Information
23Technology Awareness Day"; and be it further

24RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
25importance of raising awareness of health care information
26technology and the vital role it will play in helping to save
27lives and reduce the cost of health care for all Pennsylvanians;
28and be it further

29RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives welcome friends,
30supporters and members of the Healthcare Information and

1Management Systems Society (HIMSS) on their visit to the State
2Capitol to promote better health care in this Commonwealth
3through broader adoption of advanced health care information
4technology and management systems on that day.