Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) invited former Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, to testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health at a Hearing on Wednesday, June 4, 2008.  The Hearing will be held at 10:00 AM in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building, regarding the "Discussion Draft of Health Information Technology and Privacy."  The Discussion Draft was crafted by the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, John Dingell (D-MI), and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Frank Pallone (D-NJ), in conjunction with Ranking Member, Joe Barton (R-TX), of the full Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health, Nathan Deal (R-GA). 

“I appreciate having the Honorable Dr. Elders testify on behalf of The African American Health Alliance to bring clarity to the issue of how Health Information Technology can benefit medically underserved, low-income, uninsured and underinsured populations while simultaneously saving overall costs to the nation,” said Rep. Towns.

The Honorable Joycelyn Elders, M.D. was appointed by President Clinton as the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service on September 8, 1993.  She was the first African American to serve in that position.  Dr. Elders currently serves as Board Co-Chair of the African American Health Alliance (AAHA), a nonprofit organization working to reduce and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care delivery systems.  Elders served as Professor Emeritus of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Arkansas' School of Medical Science and is also the former Director of the Arkansas Department of Health.

Dr. Elders is expected to discuss the ability of Health IT to address health disparities and discuss how Health IT can better enable determinations of prevention and cures in certain populations by using de-identified data and allowing for the application of comparative effectiveness analysis. "I strongly advocate for passage of federal legislation this year, promoting Health IT", concluded Rep. Towns.    “I believe that widespread Health IT will generate better access and treatment options for all patient populations at cheaper costs, which will ultimately, increase efficiency in health care delivery systems, empower patients to have more control over their own care, lessen patient errors, enable remote monitoring of elderly and vulnerable patients, and allow providers to improve quality and efficiency of the care they provide.”

Rep. Towns is a 13-term veteran in the House, where he currently serves as a member of the Subcommittee on Health.  Towns believes in the benefits of technological innovation and is working in the 110th Congress to pass important Health IT legislation.

###

Return to Congressman Towns' website