Yesterday, we told you about Rush Limbaugh's rant against the measures to improve health IT in the Economic Recovery Act. Normally, Rush goes largely unnoticed by most of the general public. But his irresponsible comments about health IT have hit a nerve with the health care community.
In the last 12 hours, newspapers have received more than 2,000 letters from caregivers across the country. Their messages - largely based on professional experience in the health care industry - debunk Rush's scare tactics and clear the air about the benefits of health IT.
We thought we'd let the experts on this issue - health care professionals - speak for themselves:
As a nurse and caregiver, I take the quality and affordability of patient care seriously. The Economic Recovery Act gives health care providers the resources to invest in new technology and update existing health IT. This will save both patients and hospitals money by making delivery of care faster and more efficient. It will reduce time caregivers spend on paperwork so they can spend more time with patients. Most importantly, these resources will improve patient safety by helping to catch and eliminate medical errors. The pundits who are opposed to this Act are spreading unfounded fear. Let's bring healthcare to the 21st century...it's about time!!! - Mary Ann, MI
I am a registered nurse working in Savannah for over 35 years. [My hospital] is using many of the IT heath care solutions that President Obama is referring to in his stimulus package. Every minute we don't have to spend writing things in a paper chart are minutes we can be by our patient's bedside. This would save money in clerical bookkeeping and wasted caregiver hours, as well as lawsuits for harmful errors. Every nurse I know would rather be with their patients than keeping records already recorded somewhere else. - Linda, FL
I am an APRN in Connecticut. I didn't educate myself to this level to push a pen at the nursing desk. I want to be at the bedside to deliver care. - Patrick, CT
There are even more great letters after the fold...
Our stimulus package includes urgently needed information technology (Heath IT). This is something long needed to prevent health care charting errors, often shared between medical providers, including Doctors and other support personnel. For pundits to condemn this measure in the bill is clearly demonstrating a mentality of simply not thinking the issue through. - George, UT
As a caregiver I am serious about the quality and affordability of the care I can provide. Improving the system both in my office and in the entire national health system will improve care, give more time with patients and help catch medical errors. - Meredith, NC
I became a nurse because caring for the needy and ill is what I do best. This is how I give back to my community, but the paper work and documentation has become so overwhelming that it cuts into patient care. If only nurses had the opportunity to make decisions in our field I believe a positive change would occur. - Joshua, IL
Caregivers did not sign on to fill our countless paperwork to make insurance companies happy. Insurance companies have fared very well up to now. It is about time the patients be considered first and above anything and anyone else. - Elodia, MI
Decisions have all too often been made in offices by bureaucrats and business leaders who do not have a grasp of the systems and realities involved. And, the lack of up-to-date health IT in a computerized clinical record has done a great deal to add to the increasing cost as a result of duplication of services & effort. It is time that the real experts in health care are looked to & listened to as leaders in their field! - Susan, WI
It should be health care professionals - not radio talk show hosts - making decisions that affect the future of patient care. The Economic Recovery act gives health care providers the resources to invest in new technology and update existing health IT. This should provide new jobs for IT people that have had their jobs sent overseas. Let's keep American jobs home and provide our healthcare providers with the information they need. - Sandra, AK
Speaking from the personal experience of having been a health care provider within a system with most of its records accessible through their computer system, I can tell you it does save lives - Susan, CA
