CBO questions savings from digital healthcare records

The Congressional Budget Office has discounted earlier projections of large cost savings that could result from the adoption of technology such as digital health records, and questioned an estimate of $77 billion a year that appeared in a RAND Corp. analysis. The CBO found the potential for savings under certain circumstances, such as when IT was combined with broader reforms, but said the technology by itself was typically unlikely to generate sizable financial benefits. The findings challenge advocates of health-information technology, who have argued that it will improve patient safety and achieve significant efficiencies that will cut fast-growing healthcare expenses.