Using IT to Heal U.S. Health Care
BRAILER: Aiming to give every American an electronic health-care record by 2014.
Photo by Thomas J. Fitzsimmons
American health-care providers may use the best technology in the world, but when it comes to patient records, the system is an inefficient maze responsible for unacceptably high numbers of medical errors, skyrocketing costs, and widespread patient frustration.
The cure for these ailments lies in better use of health-care technology, says David J. Brailer, national coordinator for Health Information Technology, a newly created position he has held since appointment by President George W. Bush (MBA ’75) in May 2004.
Brailer’s mission is to give every American an electronic health-care record by 2014 and to link those records to a national medical data network. “It’s time to put health information technology center stage,” Brailer told some 300 participants at the sixth annual HBS Health Industry Alumni Association’s conference held on campus in early November. The three-day conference included presentations by industry executives, government officials, and HBS faculty on topics ranging from trends in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries to medical product regulation.
The benefits from a national health information network are expected to be substantial. A RAND Corporation study estimates savings to the U.S. health-care system of up to $162 billion a year by improving medical-care delivery, reducing medical errors and adverse drug reactions, lowering employee sick days from chronic diseases, and cutting death rates. Brailer’s challenge is to create electronic recordkeeping standards for the medical profession and to fund construction of the computer network necessary to store and share patient data. Said Brailer: “Health-care information technology will radically reshape health-care delivery.”
At the conference, the alumni association announced a new achievement award to honor its founder, and now chairman, Bunny Ellerin (MBA ’95). The Beatrice D. Ellerin award will be given each year to an HBS graduate who has made a significant contribution in the health-care field. Appropriately, the first recipient was Ellerin herself.
