The Future of Health IT

On a scale of 1 to 10, America's health care system is a generous 3, a fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration said, citing wasted resources and inappropriate treatments. Gary Christopherson, along with Captain Michael Weiner, the chief medical information office at the interagency program office of Defense and the Veterans Affairs Department, hashed out the state of information technology and the health industry. While Christopherson described many problems with the current system, he sees major scale change in the future and called for a personal health system, which could be accessed from multiple locations and would allow patients to manage their own health.

"Health IT is not an end, it's a means," he said. While the Obama Administration's electronic health records program offers incentives for doctors and hospitals using e-records, change is slow. Only 17 percent of the nation uses electronic records, Weiner said, comparing this statistic with the Defense's 100 percent use of electronic records. The health IT space, however, is at an exciting tipping point, he said.