AMIA takes IT's case to Capital Hill
Members of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) traveled to Capitol Hill last week to make the case for expanding the roles of health IT and informatics in healthcare delivery, and to press for accelerated IT adoption efforts in the healthcare sector.
With an acute shortage of physicians and nurses expected by 2020, there is a growing need for clinicians and others in healthcare to have additional knowledge and skills in health IT and informatics, according to AMIA. Currently, there are too few trained biomedical informatics scientists ready to join faculties, pursue research and teach medical and graduate students, the Washington, D.C.-based organization added.
The group of 35 AMIA members, including clinicians, allied health professionals and scientists who work in the corresponding commercial sector, met with members of Congress and legislative aides. Among them was Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who supports expansion of biomedical and health informatics.
Informatics is critical to improving safety in hospitals in a variety of ways, according to AMIA Public Policy Committee Chair David Bates, MD, FACMI, chief of the division of general internal medicine and primary care at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Health IT helps smooth transitions when patients leave the hospital, which can reduce the likelihood they will be readmitted, said Bates, who is also professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health.
With an acute shortage of physicians and nurses expected by 2020, there is a growing need for clinicians and others in healthcare to have additional knowledge and skills in health IT and informatics, according to AMIA. Currently, there are too few trained biomedical informatics scientists ready to join faculties, pursue research and teach medical and graduate students, the Washington, D.C.-based organization added.
The group of 35 AMIA members, including clinicians, allied health professionals and scientists who work in the corresponding commercial sector, met with members of Congress and legislative aides. Among them was Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who supports expansion of biomedical and health informatics.
Informatics is critical to improving safety in hospitals in a variety of ways, according to AMIA Public Policy Committee Chair David Bates, MD, FACMI, chief of the division of general internal medicine and primary care at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Health IT helps smooth transitions when patients leave the hospital, which can reduce the likelihood they will be readmitted, said Bates, who is also professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health.