1Designating May 7, 2014, as "Pennsylvania Health Care
2Information Technology Awareness Day."

3WHEREAS, Health care costs represent 17.2% of the gross
4domestic product nationally; and

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

7WHEREAS, The health care industry invests only 5% of its
8revenue on information technology and management systems versus
910.5% of other data-intensive industries, such as banking; and

10WHEREAS, The United States spends more than $2.8 trillion on
11health care a year, however, some of that spending is
12unnecessary and represents clinical and administrative waste,
13theft and excess costs; and

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

16WHEREAS, In Pennsylvania, medical assistance (Medicaid)
17spending in 2013 was $20.3 billion; and

1WHEREAS, A recent study by the Commonwealth Fund has
2demonstrated that the use of automated clinical decision support
3systems can result in a net reduction of $538 per patient per
4hospital stay; and

5WHEREAS, The Institute of Medicine reports there are at least
61.5 million preventable adverse drug events per year, each
7adding more than $8,700 to the cost of a hospital stay; and

8WHEREAS, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
9reports that, between 2011 and 2013, 14,997 providers and
10facilities received $692,246,548 in Federal incentive payments
11to implement electronic health records; and

12WHEREAS, Health care providers in this Commonwealth report an
13improved ability to recruit physicians coming out of medical
14school when advanced information technology is employed at their
15sites; and

16WHEREAS, In 2012, Senate Bill 8 was signed into law, enacting
17the Pennsylvania eHealth Information Technology Act and
18establishing the Pennsylvania eHealth Partnership Authority and
19a health information exchange; therefore be it

20RESOLVED, That the Senate designate May 7, 2014, as
21"Pennsylvania Health Care Information Technology Awareness Day";
22and be it further

23RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize the importance of raising
24awareness of health care information technology and the vital
25role it plays in helping to save lives and reduce the cost of
26health care for all Pennsylvanians; and be it further

27RESOLVED, That the Senate welcome friends, supporters and
28members of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems
29Society (HIMSS) on their visit to the State Capitol to promote
30better health care in this Commonwealth through broader adoption

1of advanced health care information technology and management
2systems on that day.