Senator Warner's conference on health information technology yesterday was a great success.  Over 400 people -- from doctors and health care providers, to leaders in health information technology software -- attended the event at VCU, and another 300 watched the conference on our website.

The goal of the conference was to bring all the stakeholders together with leaders at the federal and state level to discuss ways Virginia can take advantage of the $19 billion in funds designated in the stimulus plan for the implementation of electronic medical records.

Here is our video summary of the event: 

Click here to see all the presentations from the conference. 

In his remarks, Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Health IT Coordinator, in his first appearance outside of Washington in that position, shared examples from his own experience as a doctor of instances when his patients benefited from his use of electronic medical records -- instances, he said, that made him a better doctor. 

"This is about better health, not about technology," he said.

He said that a 2008 survey of doctors showed that only 17 percent use HIT. However, 90 percent of those who use digital patient records said they were satisfied with the results -- 66 percent of those said that HIT had informed them of a mistake or something they had overlooked while treating a patient.  

During his remarks, Dr. Robert Wah, Chief Medical Officer of Computer Sciences Corporation and former Deputy National Health IT Coordinator, presented a comparative analysis of how different forms of HIT work successfully in different governments around the world.  

Secretary Marilyn Tavenner, Virginia's Secretary of Health and Human Resources, talked about leveraging the stimulus funds for HIT at the state level through the Health IT Project Management Office.

Senator Warner said the conference was just the first step in the process, and that the converation will continue through a working group that will meet regualarly.  To see all the presentations from the conference, click here.