Remarks by Walter Broadnax, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services

Introduction

Thank you, Dr. McGinnis.

In your career with the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, you've helped carve out a whole lane for health on the information superhighway.

We Have Come A Long Way

Nearly 20 years ago, when Congress passed the National Consumer Health Information and Health Promotion Act, it hardly could have envisioned the phenomenal, fast-track changes for health information. We have come a long way.

Today, on the Internet, consumers can access your office's National Health Information Center. Clinicians can get a handbook of services to preventive care timelines. Organizations can access the Put Prevention into Practice campaign and find out how to participate in the campaign. And, with Quicktime software, they can even see a movie of Secretary Shalala talking about the campaign.

Where Do We Go From Here?

I congratulate you for where you've brought us in the past 20 years. Now, where do we go from here, and what can we look forward to in the next 20 years as we move forward?

Looking To The Future

Let's take a step into the year 2015. I imagine a family in San Diego, California, called the Williams family. The parents are Susan and Thomas. Susan gets health insurance through the small recycling firm where she works. She's offered a choice of competitive health plans, and with that a computerized report card that evaluates strengths and weaknesses of each plan for her family.

Because of the National Institute of Health's Human Genome Project -- and our ability to apply its findings to disease prevention -- Thomas knows that he's carrying a gene that makes him susceptible to colon cancer, which killed his father fifteen years before.

As a result, he's following a health plan that includes a proper diet, exercise and regular checkups.

The two Williams children were fully vaccinated by age two -- because their parents learned the importance of preschool immunization through surfing the health promotion Internet sites.

Now, the youngest child is in elementary school, where he enhances his health and science classes through collaboration with other students across the globe.

The oldest is in high school -- she does research for school science reports at major universities throughout the world. She accesses the health information right from her home computer.

Thomas Williams' mother lives in a rural town in Nebraska. Telemedicine has brought specialty care into her primary care clinic, adding to the team of caregivers who set up shop in small towns across the country.

Perhaps the most important thing about this family of the future is that they are all health literate. They make informed decisions about health issues. They understand the link between behavior and health. Today, we come together to create this bold new world. We have a moral imperative to make health information available to every American.

We have the best research, the best technology, the best training in the world for the new generation. And some of the very best facilities. Those are today's news, not tomorrow's America. That depends on changes that you have come here to discuss.

Families of the Future: Making A Commitment

The Clinton administration has made its commitment: three steps to help our families of the future. First, in 1993, the administration created the National Information Infrastructure Task Force (or IITF), consisting of representatives from federal agencies that hold a major role in these technologies. Secretary Brown chairs the Task Force; I serve as the representative for HHS. We established committees to guide us. The Telecommunications Committee deals with national security, and the international use of research networks. The Information Policy Committee addresses property rights and data dissemination. The Committee on Applications and Technology deals with telemedicine and compatibility of information systems.

Committees have formed smaller working groups on key issues, who are in the process of developing recommendations for future policies. The IITF bulletin board system is accessible by modem, of course.

Vice President Gore took the second step in making information accessible last March. He asked Secretary Shalala to make recommendations in health policy areas, health data, privacy, information for consumers, and telemedicine. Let me tell you about one decision this group has already made. A federal advisory committee has been set up to provide a forum for consumer health issues and is reviewing the role of government in consumer health information.

We are also looking for private collaboration. This is increasingly important in health, because the private sector will take the lead in the ownership and operation of health information systems.

This leads me to the third commitment: forging partnerships, such as this conference. We must all be advocates for the future. We need to coordinate our work among agencies, makes sure that health information is available online. The business community must work with us in understanding the public and develop technology that meets their needs. Health organizations and insurance companies must use compatible information services. We must make this part of the curriculum for health professionals at universities. Communities must link libraries and schools to health networks. That's how we can make sure that the Williams family and all other families can make responsible health choices. That is our goal and our obligation, that must be our future.

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