As Colorado prepares to receive federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, state lawmakers and businesses need to be ready with a clear plan to use the money wisely, in ways that will not just repair old problems, but prepare us to compete in the 21st century.
Before he took office, President Obama’s transition team asked IBM to estimate the impact of $30 billion in stimulus funds devoted to areas vital to innovation and competitiveness such as health care information technology and broadband technology. IBM projects that such an investment would yield more than 900,000 jobs in the U.S. in one year.
Colorado stands to benefit from these national investments because we’ve already demonstrated leadership in these areas, having put important building blocks in place.
Take the $19 billion in the stimulus bill set aside for health care IT. The bill requires electronic medical records (EMRs) for everyone in the U.S. by 2014. This is an effort to cut down on waste and save lives by reducing the number of deadly but preventable medical errors that kill nearly 100,000 people each year – costing the U.S. as much as $29 billion annually.
EMRs not only help ensure patient safety and increase efficiency and affordability, they also lead to more effective treatments, and can be used to drive medical research and drug discovery and evaluation.
Today, however, only about 28 percent of U.S. health care providers use EMRs. In most cases, medical records are scattered among various hospitals and doctors’ offices, and Colorado has been no exception.
But in December, thanks to an effort led by Gov. Ritter to ensure interoperability of health information, Colorado became one of the first states in the country to demonstrate that electronic health information can be securely shared between hospitals and health care organizations at a statewide level.
This is an important first step in creating a larger, smarter health care system that links patients and physicians to pharmaceutical researchers, health care providers, insurance companies and employers.
As a national hub for the telecommunications industry, broadband technology is another area where Colorado has led, and the stimulus bill includes $7.2 billion dedicated to expanding access to high speed networks.
Under Gov. Bill Owens, Colorado developed a high speed, fiber-optic backbone designed to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas. While that project been largely successful, Gov. Ritter has noted that the network isn’t being used as widely as it could be, and has called for an expansion of its capabilities to areas that could benefit from additional high speed Internet services.
That’s a good thing, because not only does broadband capability bring more services like retail and health care to underserved areas, it is vital when it comes to driving business and creating jobs. One national study found that over a four-year period, communities with broadband access saw employment grow a full percentage point more than communities without it.
Broadband networks form the underpinning of the kinds of smarter infrastructure projects that are improving our daily lives – allowing intelligence to be more easily added to everything from roads and transportation systems to hospitals, utilities and airports.
And for schools, broadband has the power to change the way our kids learn by providing access to a wealth of knowledge and educational resources, enabling more effective learning tools, and exposing kids to different cultures and parts of the world they might not otherwise know.
Compared to many states, Colorado has fared the recent economic headwinds relatively well. But by no means are we immune, and that’s why we need to make wise choices when it comes to spending federal funds from the economic stimulus package.
If we continue investing in areas like these to create jobs and sustain growth, Colorado will be in great shape to make the most of an economic recovery when it comes. And it will come.
Larry Longseth is IBM’s senior executive for Colorado. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
