Washington Post on Saturday had an interesting article that profiles how HIMSS, through strong lobbying efforts, was able to land the huge ARRA windfall for its member HIT vendors. Great lessons here for those looking to tap the federal spigot, though doubt many will have such luck in timing as HIMSS had in this instance.
Now the question is: Will HIT vendors be the only beneficiaries of this federal windfall or will both clinicians and consumers also see value at the end of the day? At this point, it is anybody’s guess.
No doubt HIMSS did a great job getting this stimulus money for the big HIT vendors out there. In fact, maybe I should add HIMSS to my list of Big Winners from the HITECH act: http://www.emrandhipaa.com/emr-and-hipaa/2009/02/19/big-winners-from-obama-ehr-stimulus-hitech/