Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) maintains that the U.S. "health care system is on an unsustainable course" and that health care information technology can help address the problem, according to an Atlanta Journal Constitution opinion piece by associate editorial page editor Jim Wooten. According to Gingrich, information on the cost and quality of health care services and prescription drugs should appear on Web sites accessible by consumers. In addition, Gingrich recommends that consumers, physicians and pharmacists receive information and incentives to make responsible decisions about prescription and over-the-counter medications, Wooten states. Under Gingrich's proposal, health insurers would reimburse consumers for the full cost of the least expensive of equally effective medications, which would lead to a "downward pressure on drug prices," according to Wooten. Gingrich also recommends that health insurers provide higher reimbursements for electronic prescriptions to prompt physicians and pharmacists to switch from paper to electronic prescriptions, which would reduce medication errors, Wooten writes (Wooten, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9/24).

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