Nebraska Health Information Initiative

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                   February 24, 2010

CHT Press Releases Paper Kills 2.0

Gingrich, Daschle and others explore leading technologies to transform health system

Washington, DC— A new book that once again shows how modern technology can transform our health system was released Wednesday by the Center for Health Transformation (CHT).

Paper Kills 2.0: How Health IT Can Help Save Your Life and Your Money is a 12-chapter collaboration edited by CHT vice president and national policy director David Merritt with a foreword by CHT Founder and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

Paper Kills 2.0 comes on the heels of the one-year anniversary of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, or economic stimulus package, as well as ongoing health reform negotiations in Washington.

“Despite agreement on the broad goals of improving care and lowering costs, the past year has shown that finding common ground on health reform can seem impossible.  While it is important for policymakers to stand their ground when they must, it is equally as important to have the courage to collaborate when they should.  Modernizing our system with health information technology is one of those issues,” note Gingrich and Daschle in the book’s foreword.

“Paper Kills 2.0 is a timely book that explores the most important drivers of health IT, from innovation, primary care, and clinical research to open source, electronic administration, and health information exchange.  We focused each chapter on the tens of billions of dollars invested through the economic stimulus law to get modern technologies into the hands of doctors and providers,” says Merritt.

“This book explains why [health IT] is so important and how it can improve your health,” says Mehmet Oz, M.D., Vice Chair and Professor of Surgery, New York Presbyterian/ Columbia University and author of YOU: The Owner’s Manual.

 “Paper Kills 2.0 is evidence our nation is making progress in solving the complex puzzle of a connected healthcare system,” says Michael O. Leavitt, former Governor of Utah and former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary.

“This impressive collection of materials from healthcare leaders from every industry sector will help us tackle the complex and critical issues we must resolve to ensure an efficient, high quality, modern health system,” says U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). 

“Health information technology is vital to helping doctors and patients live healthy and fight chronic disease.  It is also vital to finding ways to prevent disease in the first place.  I applaud the expertise and experiences highlighted in this important book to help make this happen,” says Julie Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H., former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This book, penned by some of the industry's brightest minds, provides a brilliant blueprint through its discussion of issues reshaping healthcare today and how we can act with agility to address the inevitable changes we will face tomorrow," says Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO, GE.

Chapter contributors include representatives from Microsoft, Intermountain Healthcare, GE Healthcare, NextGen Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare, StatCom, Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), Availity, LLC, Greenway Medical Technologies, Misys Open Source Solutions, Surescripts, Inland Northwest Health Services, and the Nebraska Health Information Initiative ( NeHII).

For more information or to order Paper Kills 2.0, please visit CHT’s website, www.healthtransformation.net.

Center for Health Transformation (CHT)

The Center for Health Transformation is a high-impact collaboration of private and public sector leaders committed to creating a 21st Century Intelligent Health System that saves lives and saves money for all Americans. CHT is based on the following premise: Small changes or reactionary fixes to separate pieces of the current system have not and will not work. We need a system-wide transformation. Unlike other alliances, CHT unites stakeholders across the spectrum (providers, employers, vendors, trade associations, disease groups, think tanks) and government leaders at both the state and federal level to drive transformation according to a shared vision and key principles. For more information, visit www.healthtransformation.net.

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