Presidential election has potential healthcare IT side effects

Pressure by health insurers on hospitals to contain costs has contributed to increased use of healthcare information technology (IT) mainframes, SearchDataCenter.com reported September 30.

 

The political landscape, specifically the presidential nominees’ approaches to achieving universal healthcare coverage, also will impact their future use, according to the newsletter.

 

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) favors increased use of private insurance plans which would increase the number and size of insurer databases and the amount of patient information they contain, the newsletter reported. The mainframe’s use would spread to insurance companies, creating new privacy concerns and the need for standardized communications of new data types between healthcare providers and insurers.

 

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) wants greater use of government insurance with a focus on regulatory and reporting requirements for providers to facilitate the government’s need to track insurance effectiveness, according to the article. This suggests greater mainframe use at centralized government sites and less need by insurers.

 

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