Image of male nurse pushing senior woman in a wheelchair in nursing facility

Medicare and Medicaid reform and the creation of an electronic health records system will be the priorities of the Department of Health and Human Services in the next few years.

New HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt also said the department will establish “a clear priority toward prevention in that prevention is clearly as much a priority as healing,” while outlining his goals Friday.

Leavitt said he plans to announce a 500-day plan in the next few weeks that will detail his vision of reforming Medicare and Medicaid.

“I came to this job with very clear impressions of Medicaid,” said the former governor of Utah. “It kept me as governor from funding things clearly in the interests of people who needed help. I’m going to continue to seek helping people with the resources that we have.”