U.S. health data czar sees role for government hand

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Electronic health records need a nudge from the government if the technology is to become widespread, the nation's new health information technology czar said on Thursday.

"It is clear that this field has not advanced (enough) ... when left exclusively to the private sector so there is a public role," said Dr. David Blumenthal, head of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Backers of electronic records say they can protect patients by preventing medical errors and save money by avoiding duplicated tests and better managing chronic conditions that can be costly to treat.

The government did not want to regulate too much or be too intrusive but it did need to take steps to improve the public good, Blumenthal told an event hosted by the Markle Foundation, a nonprofit technology group.

A former professor at Harvard Medical School, Blumenthal took charge of the health IT office last week and must now help direct roughly $19 billion in federal funds aimed at encouraging doctors and hospitals to convert mounds of paper medical records into digital records.

The money was part of the economic stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year.

The potential for billions in spending initially boosted the health IT sector, which includes companies such as McKesson Corp and Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc as well as larger players such as Microsoft Corp, Google Inc, Siemens AG and General Electric Co.

Since then, investors and others have been waiting for guidance from the U.S. health IT office.