WHEREAS, The Institute of Medicine reports that 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 2015, 50,607 providers and
facilities in Pennsylvania received $1.4 billion in Federal
incentive payments to implement electronic health care records;
and
WHEREAS, Ninety-seven percent of eligible hospitals and 56%
of ambulatory health care providers in Pennsylvania have
adopted, upgraded or demonstrated meaningful use of an
electronic health care record system in 2015; 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 deployed at their
sites; and
WHEREAS, Supporters and members of the Healthcare Information
and Management Systems Society advocate for the following:
(1) Improved access to health care for rural
Pennsylvanians through the expanded use of telehealth.
(2) Funding for work force development programs to help
increase the health care and information technology work
force in this Commonwealth.
(3) The adoption of policies that promote
interoperability standards which enable cooperation by all
provider communities in this Commonwealth;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 9,
2017, as "Pennsylvania Health Care Information Technology
Awareness Day" in Pennsylvania; and be it further
20170HR0269PN1515 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30