Recovery in Action: Investing in Health Care
Source: The White HousePublished Friday, August 21, 2009 - 14:34
While discussion about needed reforms to the health care system continues across the country, the Recovery Act made an investment today that will help hospitals provide more efficient care. Specifically, Vice President Biden announced the availability of $1.2 billion in grants to help health care providers implement and use electronic health records:
With electronic health records, we are making health care safer; we’re making it more efficient; we’re making you healthier; and we’re saving money along the way. These are four necessities we need for healthcare in the 21st-century.
As HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, these investments are a much-needed step towards modernizing the country’s health care system:
Electronic health records can help reduce medical errors, make health care more efficient and improve the quality of medical care for all Americans. These grants will help ensure more doctors and hospitals have the tools they need to use this critical technology.
The Recovery Act is also funding projects outside of health care, creating jobs and stimulating the economy by financing public improvement projects across the country:
