Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposals for Health IT
This week the White House released the proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2011, including $78 million for programs to help propel health IT adoption and use.
In the proposed fiscal 2011 budget released by the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is requesting funding of $78 million for its Office of National Coordinator for Health IT, an increase of $17 million over the $61 million allocated to the office for fiscal 2010.
In a 114-page “budget brief” released by HHS, the $78 million funding requested for ONC includes “resources [for ONC] to serve as the federal health IT leader and coordinator and to continue implementing recovery act programs”.
The brief also stated that the increase to the Office of the National Coordinator’s (ONC’s) budget will enable the office to continue implementing programs that accelerate the adoption of health IT nationwide, and “helping physicians achieve meaningful use of e-health records.”
According to the briefing document, HHS’s fiscal 2011 budget proposes $32 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to advance the use of health IT to enhance patient safety; $1.6 million in the Office of Civil Rights for “regional privacy advisors”; and $1 million for the Office of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation “for independent evaluation of [electronic health record] adoption and economic factors influencing health IT.”
(Source: www.InformationWeek.com)
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