Senators Seek Study on Best Practices

HDM Breaking News, November 25, 2008

Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have requested the Government Accountability Office study best practices used by hospitals, states and other nations to reduce health care costs and improve quality.

GAO is an investigatory agency of Congress. Conrad is chair of the Senate Budget Committee. Sheldon, a strong advocate of federal action to accelerate health information technology adoption, is a committee member.

In a letter to GAO, the senators did not specifically mention studying the effect of I.T. on costs and quality. But they made clear their desire that the overall effect of better information be one of the areas studied.

"We need to study the development and diffusion of health care technology and discourage defensive medicine," according to the letter. "We need to find ways to provide better information to both consumers and providers of care, and thoroughly explore all potential areas of reducing health care expenditures."

The senators ask that the GAO study include an identification of best practices and the extent to which they can be adopted on a wide scale. "In preparation for congressional action on health reform, it would be helpful to understand how these best practices, whether from the states, integrated delivery systems or other countries, can be applied to the system as a whole," the letter states.

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