Executives Prescribe More Technology Use To Boost U.S. Health

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Slow adoption of technology poses the gravest threat to the U.S. health care industry, even more so than soaring medical costs or growing numbers of uninsured patients.

So say health care executives and lawmakers who will attend the World Health Care Congress.

At the event, government officials and health care leaders will press the industry to quickly adopt tech goods and services, both to improve patient care and, eventually, cut health costs.

The eight big tech companies pushing a national health information network have united under the name Interoperability Consortium. They are IBM, (IBM) Microsoft, (MSFT) Intel, (INTC) Oracle, (ORCL) Accenture, (ACN) Cisco, (CSCO) Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Computer Sciences. (CSC)

Proponents say a health network would slash costs and improve patient safety. The Department of Health and Human Services projects that a national program could save $140 billion per year — or 10% of total U.S. health spending — by improving care and cutting down on overlaps.