Columnist highlights small victories in year of grand visions

Here at FierceHealthIT, we're getting ready for our year-end issue next week. As we prepare our review, we're seeing some interesting perspectives on the news in health IT in 2009. Clearly, there was nothing bigger this year than the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion stimulus bill that allocates a net $19.2 billion for health IT--really, a gross outlay of closer to $35 billion--over the next eight years.

But the stimulus, which passed in February, represents opportunity and potential. iHealthBeat columnist Dr. Thomas H. Lee, prefers a more pragmatic approach. "Lost among the grand and hopeful visions for healthcare reform and health IT subsidies, however, have also been the small victories that occur daily on the ground. Accomplishments unheralded. Challenges overcome," writes Lee.

Lee, a San Francisco internist, highlights four milestones in health IT that weren't among the high-level visions:

* MedVirginia became the first RHIO to go live on the Nationwide Health Information Network.

* Text messaging has helped improve medication adherence.

* E-prescribing finally began to take off.

* The Internet has gained wide acceptance as a conduit for health information.

Plus, Lee says, there's an army of people dedicated to making sure health IT succeeds in improving the provision of care. "Though most headlines focus attention on the big dollars and launch of key initiatives, it's helpful to remember that every day, many individuals are working hard to make the system a little better," he writes.

For more:
- read Lee's iHealthBeat column

Related Articles:
Dialing back the expectations for interoperable EHRs
National Health Information Network begins test data exchange
Study: Text messaging improves medication adherence for teens
Trend: E-prescribing on the rise despite problems