Keeping record

Two high-profile private sector leaders entreated long-term care providers Tuesday to take responsibility for technological and care delivery innovations.

“You hold the power in your hands. It’s not in Washington’s hands,” said Craig Barrett, chairman of the board of Intel Corp.

He along with David Walker, former comptroller general of the United States, were the keynote speakers during the general session Tuesday at the annual conference of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging in Philadelphia. It ends today.

Barrett stressed that the Center for Aging Services Technology (CAST), the technology arm of AAHSA, develop a standard for electronic health records because the government has been slow to act on it.

“Just pick a standard,” he said. “Pick a standard and go with it.”

Long-term care needs to follow the lead of the record business and the photography industry, which had to respond when newer technology entered the market, he said. Healthcare looks like a computer system of 30 years ago, he said.  

Meanwhile, Walker, who is president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, stressed that the federal government has failed in many respects, including digging a deficit hole of $53 trillion in 2007.

“We get laggardship out of Washington, not leadership,” he said.

To see a McKnight’s interview with Walker, go to the home page of www.mcknights.com.