21 Aug U.S. to dole out $1.2 billion for health records technology
The Obama administration unveiled $1.2 billion in federal grants for electronic health records systems on Thursday, the first wave of funding under a health-care reform plan to create vast records-sharing networks aimed at cutting costs and improving care in the coming decade.
The administration has described such computer systems as a crucial step in overhauling the nation’s increasingly expensive health-care system. It allocated more than $36 billion in the landmark stimulus legislation — including the funding announced Thursday — to spur adoption of the equipment by doctors and hospitals along with the development of the networks that will link them all together.
The upbeat announcement by Vice President Biden came at a time of distress for supporters of health-care reform, whose goal of winning congressional approval for a sweeping proposal this fall has been cast into doubt by growing criticism from the GOP and some Democrats about the methods and cost assumptions.
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