In his weekly address Saturday on American recovery and investment, President-elect Barack Obama kept healthcare IT and healthcare costs front and center.
"To save not only jobs, but money and lives, we will update and computerize our healthcare system to cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes and help reduce healthcare costs by billions of dollars each year," Obama said as part of a wide-ranging talk about economic recovery.
As part of his campaign platform, Obama has pledged to earmark $10 billion a year over five years to promote the adoption and use of healthcare information technology.
Since being elected, Obama has consistently spotlighted healthcare IT as one means of improving care while at the same time whittling costs.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society has called on the new administration for an investment of $25 billion in healthcare IT to help non-governmental hospitals and physician practices adopt electronic medical records. Other professional organizations also have called on the incoming administration to provide more money for healthcare and information technology, as have governors around the country.
Obama said in his talk that the No. 1 goal of his recovery plan is to create 3 million new jobs, more than 80 percent of them in the private sector.
"To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow, we will double renewable energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient," he said.
It's in talk of bolstering infrastructure that Obama mentions the revamping of the healthcare system.
Obama said he would meet this week with leaders from both parties to discuss the stimulus plan.
