Healthcare Information Technology Research & Analysis : Coplan & Company : IT Procurement Management, Project Management, System Acquisition

The economic stimulus package is likely to include about $20 billion annually for HIT. I fear we will waste much of this money unless we first fix some fundamental national healthcare problems. For example, Michael Pollan suggested we are currently medicalizing dietary problems. He suggests that we are spending approximately $14,000 a year treating a typical Type 2 diabetic with drugs and medical devices. If Americans changed their diet we could significantly reduce these costs. This and many other solutions could reduce the need for investing large quantities of public funds for something like HIT. Perhaps it is time to bring back President Kennedy's Youth Fitness Program before we spend more public funds on HIT.