Healthcare IT News - November 2007 - (Page 9) www.HealthcareITNews.com industry news November 2007 ■ Healthcare IT News Online is where patients go for answers to health questions By DIana Manos, Senior Editor – A new report shows that more Americans with chronic diseases are searching the Internet for answers on care and prevention. The report, released recently by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, found that of the 34 million adults living with disabilities or chronic diseases, about half go online to find information regarding their condition, an increase WAshinGton over the past four years. The increased awareness of chronic disease could spell some welcome relief to what the Milken Institute calls a frequently ignored contributor to rising medical expenditures. According to the Milken Institute, just seven of the most frequently occurring chronic conditions already cost the United States $1.3 trillion a year. If nothing is done to amend the downward spiral in America’s health, the nation can expect a 42 percent increase in the next 16 years in the number of patients with cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions and mental disorders, according to an October Milken Institute report. Milken researchers said with just modest improvements in preventing and treating disease, 40 million cases of chronic disease could be avoided by 2023. The Pew study found that awareness of chronic disease is increasing among Americans. Once online, 86 percent of patients with chronic diseases said they have searched for information on at least one of 17 health topics. Of those surveyed with no chronic conditions, 79 percent reported searching on the same topics, the study found. The patients with chronic condi- tions use the Internet to search for information on treatment decisions how to cope with pain and other topics, Pew researchers said. “By researching online I can find information that fills in gaps in my knowledge, and allows me to ask better questions of the doctor,” said one person who participated in the study. ■ More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: PeW 1107 ● BIll Continued from page 7 a date for establishing interoperability standards. It also provides grants and loans to providers, empowers public-private partnerships and codifies aspects of the federal healthcare IT advancement effort. “We live in the Information Age, but healthcare, one of the most information-intensive segments of our economy, remains mired in a pen-and-paper past,” Eshoo said. “This is a disservice to patients and “we live in the information age, but healthcare, one of the most information-intensive segments of our economy, remains mired in a pen-and-paper past.” – Anna Eshoo to our healthcare system. Speeding the adoption of health information technology will have a powerful effect on enhancing patient safety, reducing medical errors, improving the quality of care and reducing healthcare costs.” The bipartisan bill would increase the deployment of healthcare IT by streamlining the process for the adoption of HIT interoperability standards, said Eshoo. It requires the federal government to abide by those standards, and it authorizes funding to promote healthcare IT adoption nationwide. The bill also: ■ creates the Partnership for Health Care Improvement, a public-private advisory body to recommend or endorse appropriate HIT interoperability standards and timeframes for adoption; ■ authorizes funding for grants to assist state and local governments adopt and promote HIT within their states; and ■ provides incentives for utilizing broadband to deliver HIT in underserved areas and authorizes funding to train qualified HIT professionals. Proponents of the bill and legislative analysts say healthcare IT legislation is a long shot to pass this year. ■ More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: BILL 1107 ● e ● Connect: MIe 1107 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8028 http://www.miewb.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8025 http://www.miewb.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=8082
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.