Senate health reform hearings focus on IT

Continued adoption of healthcare information technology is critical to healthcare reform, a spokesman for the nation's top corporations told the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday. John Castellani, president of the Business Roundtable, which represents chief executives of the nation's top corporations, offered his comments during the second of three roundtables to discuss healthcare reform. The committee is chaired by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) "We have had many discussions with the committee about ways to create greater value in our healthcare system, Castellani said in a prepared statement. "And we applaud your commitment to identify options that are key to the success of reform." Top among the three measures Castellani said his group supports as key to reform is "continued adoption of uniform interoperable health information technology standards and incentives to use health information technology."