Opinion: Health IT in Connecticut – learning from mistakes

Ellen Andrews is the executive director of the Connecticut Health Policy Project.

A wise advocate once told me that if I have a problem with wasting money, I should find a different profession. The latest example of that truth is HITE-CT, a quasi-public entity created in statute to develop a system of health information exchange (HIE) for our state. HITE-CT was dissolved by the legislature this year after wasting $4.3 million in federal grants and four years without accomplishing anything.

Accurate, timely information is key to effective health care. Patients with even modest health problems can have medical records in dozens of different systems that don’t talk to each other. An effective HIE can solve this problem, allowing providers access to the all information they need, but only what they need, to best treat the person in front of them.

With a functional HIE, no one would have to carry X-Rays between providers or remember medications and doses. If you ended up in an ER, the provider caring for you would know your health history, allergies, past surgeries, and anything else they need to keep you safe and make you well. A functional HIE can reduce medical errors, avoid duplication of services, help patients keep ourselves well, and allow policymakers to maximize scarce resources.

See the complete story at CT News Junkie.