HIT budget plan criticized as insufficient

Health IT coordinator's office would see an increase, but funding would be flat for the agency that tests technology's potential for patient care.

By Dave Hansen, AMNews staff. March 3, 2008.

Washington -- Funding levels for health information technology programs in President Bush's fiscal 2009 budget have come under fire in recent weeks from some analysts and Democratic lawmakers. They say the proposed investment isn't enough to advance the administration's goal of widespread electronic health record use by 2014.

The $3.1 trillion budget plan would boost spending for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology by 9%, or $5.5 million, to $66.1 million. It also proposed keeping HIT funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at last year's level of $44.8 million. AHRQ uses these funds to test HIT systems and recommend best practices. The agency would continue focusing resources on information technology investments that enhance patient safety.

At a Feb. 14 Senate Budget Committee hearing on HIT funding, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D, R.I.) criticized Bush for allocating so little money to the technology coordinator's office. Widespread adoption of HIT could save $81 billion, he said, yet the president is proposing much less to achieve it. "If you could make $81 billion and get a 100% payback, that gives you an idea of how off we are in magnitude.

"Despite positive rhetoric and small steps forward, President Bush has largely squandered the opportunity to make meaningful progress on the development and implementation of a nationwide information technology system," he added.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D, N.D.) identified widespread adoption of HIT as a critical way to control health care costs. The U.S. spends 16% of its gross domestic product on health care, a figure which is expected to rise to 37% by 2050. The private sector will be overwhelmed by health care costs if they are not contained, Conrad said.