Today in the state of New York, a pack-a-day smoker spends $250 of his disposable income each month and destroys his health in the process. He then seeks medical insurance and finds it “too expensive” — after all, insurance is a form of sharing risk and his is a risky and expensive future — and then he cries out to the political leaders of his country for medical coverage regardless of “pre-existing conditions.” Other examples of self-destructive behavior can easily be substituted.

Health information technology (HIT) holds promise to better coordinate patient care, reduce costs, improve quality – and daily life for physician practices. That’s the idea behind development of a variety of federal HIT grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and Indiana is seeing a flow of those dollars. To date three rounds of grant funding have sent funds to Indiana.