$1 billion flowing for health IT

The Obama administration is dedicating $1 billion for health IT projects, developing the networks to use them and training workers in how to do it. The grants were announced last week by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis as part of the $787 billion stimulus package enacted last year.

"The awards we're talking about today total nearly $1 billion and help Americans get the training they need to do the health care jobs of the future," Sebelius said. She added that the awards would also "help them unleash the power of health IT to cut costs, eliminate paperwork and most of all help doctors deliver high quality, coordinated health care."

The money will be used to clear the obstacles that many doctors around the country perceive as existing to getting health IT off the ground.

The $225 million in Labor Department grants will largely go to training workers for this growing industry, Solis said. The money will be used to train 47,000 workers. Health IT is one of many initiatives underway in the Obama administration, led by HHS. It is designed to create a system of electronic medical records that can be shared across hospitals and practices. It's also intended to ultimately help cut healthcare costs.

For more on these grants:
- see this RTTNews article

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