Let's hear it for healthcare IT in Arizona

Healthcare IT gets a big round of applause from hospitals and other medical professionals in Arizona, where healthcare IT is touted as having the potential to play a big role in curbing rising health care costs, say professors in the School of Health Management and Policy in the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Drilling down a bit, the article in the East Valley Tribune looks at a local healthcare provider, Banner Health, that's in the process of implementing electronic medical records in all of its hospitals. All Banner hospitals in the East Valley will have electronic medical records by the end of 2008.

Banner has also introduced I Care ICU, a virtual intensive care unit with a control center adjacent to Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa. It assists in the care of ICU patients at five facilities, including one in Colorado.

For more on Banner Health:
- read this East Valley Tribune article