Healthcare Reform and Technology Spending

As I woke up this morning to grab the paper, let the dog out, start my daily brew and check the morning news, there was nothing but buzz on the historic healthcare reform legislation.

As I contemplated whether this is good or bad for America, my inner IT geek told me “Mark, reform means change, change means compliance, and compliance is good if you’re an early to expansion stage venture capital fund”. It creates a sense of urgency for customers to “buy” software, which creates new startups, which employs people, which reduces costs and inefficiencies. So, I choose to look at this as cup half full, than cup half empty. Long term, my belief is this is good for America.

Erik Sherman of BNET cites in his blog this morning that there are dozens of references in the bill related to information technology. For example, the “National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics” would review whether non-profit health care organizations had operating rules that were “consistent with electronic standards adopted for health information technology”. Another example is an “Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology” will “ensure optimal use of health information technology.” This will include “standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria” for electronic health care records. That alone could help fuel implementation of EHRs, and that can run millions per hospital, while reducing operational support costs.

There is NO DOUBT in my mind that this will also force the hands of states to use prescribed standards and protocols to receive federal funds.

While this historic legislation is highly debated, it will definitely help to reinvent an industry that has become old and inefficient. This is similar to my blog yesterday about Vivek Kundra, federal CIO pushing for cloud computing and eliminated waste and inefficiency throughout the federal government.

It seems like the Obama administration is taking IT by the horns and riding this bull to the next election.

Let me know what you think.