On the same day (July 24) on which the Governor’s Summit on Heath Care Affordability in California was held, the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order that outlines the plan for the advancement of health information technology (HIT) of California.
The order directs the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Business, Transportation and Housing, and the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care, to fix up financing strategies to allocate part of minimum $240 million to develop public and private financing alternatives to expedite HIT adoption by hospitals, physicians and health care providers. The order also directs agencies to report back within 60 days of the forum and to implement a comprehensive HIT programme by July 1, 2007. Two examples of HIT are telemedicine centres and networked databases. For patients, HIT will ensure availability of accurate, updated medical information, wherever and whenever they are treated.
