PRINTER'S NO. 897
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
124
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY AUMENT, GREENLEAF, RAFFERTY, PILEGGI, BARTOLOTTA,
DINNIMAN, HUTCHINSON, FONTANA, ALLOWAY, VULAKOVICH, SCAVELLO,
YUDICHAK, SMITH AND COSTA, MAY 12, 2015
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, MAY 12, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Designating May 12, 2015, as "Pennsylvania Health Care
Information Technology Awareness Day."
WHEREAS, Health care costs represent 16.9% of the gross
domestic product nationally; and
WHEREAS, Seventy percent of health care transactions are
paper-based; and
WHEREAS, The health care industry invests only 5% of its
revenue on information technology and management systems versus
10.5% of other data-intensive industries, such as banking; and
WHEREAS, The United States spends more than $3 trillion on
health care per year, however, some of that spending is
unnecessary and represents clinical and administrative waste,
theft and excess costs; and
WHEREAS, Spending on health care has risen over 40% in the
last decade; and
WHEREAS, In Pennsylvania, medical assistance (Medicaid)
spending in 2013 was $20.3 billion; and
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WHEREAS, A recent study by the Commonwealth Fund has
demonstrated that the use of automated clinical decision support
systems can result in a net reduction of $538 per patient per
hospital stay; and
WHEREAS, The Institute of Medicine reports there are at least
1.5 million preventable adverse drug events per year, each
adding more than $8,700 to the cost of a hospital stay; and
WHEREAS, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
reports that, between 2011 and 2014, 39,574 providers and
facilities received $1.3 billion in Federal incentive payments
to implement electronic health records; and
WHEREAS, Health care providers in this Commonwealth report an
improved ability to recruit physicians coming out of medical
school when advanced information technology is employed at their
sites; and
WHEREAS, In 2012, the Pennsylvania eHealth Information
Technology Act was enacted and established the Pennsylvania
eHealth Partnership Authority and a health information exchange;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate designate May 12, 2015, as
"Pennsylvania Health Care Information Technology Awareness Day";
and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize the importance of raising
awareness of health care information technology and the vital
role it plays in helping to save lives and reduce the cost of
health care for all Pennsylvanians; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Senate welcome friends, supporters and
members of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems
Society on their visit to the State Capitol to promote better
health care in this Commonwealth through broader adoption of
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advanced health care information technology and management
systems on that day.
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