Health Information Technology

A. Health Information Technology

  • Support bipartisan legislation that encourages the widespread adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT), which has the potential to lower costs, improve quality, reduce medical errors, and build consistency and continuity of care.
  • Develop National inter-operable standards for health information systems to communicate uniformly.
  • Support the Department of Health and Human Services’ transparency initiative (support HIT, provide quality and pricing information, and promote efficient care), which permits employers and consumers to make smart health care spending decisions.
  • Prevent the implementation of onerous privacy rules that will hinder the adoption and use of HIT.

Position: The Greater Memphis Chamber supports legislation that encourages the adoption and use of Health Information Technology (HIT).

B. The Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The “MED”)

 

 

The Regional Medical Center of Memphis (MED) is the state’s largest safety-net teaching hospital (member of National Association of Public Hospitals) and serves a 150-mile radius around Memphis, including portions of six states.

This site has trained more than half of Tennessee’s medical professionals through its affiliation with The University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

The MED’s healthcare delivery complex consists of 335 inpatient beds, 10 primary care outpatient clinics located throughout the community, and an outpatient ambulatory care facility with over 50 areas of specialty. The MED has 8 Centers of Excellence which include the regional burn center, the Level 1 trauma center, the sickle cell center, and the level 3 nursery.

The MED plays an invaluable role in the community by serving the uninsured and underprivileged of Western Tennessee and surrounding states, specifically Mississippi and Arkansas.

Shelby County and the State of Tennessee have provided assistance to support the MED’s operations and ensure its vitality. 

The federal delegation is encouraged to support the MED’s operations with financial and regulatory assistance as requested by the Shelby County Government. Specific items include:

  • Support Congressionally-directed funding for the MED’s priority capital and equipment needs;
  • Enhanced support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the MED’s unique multi-state patient population;
  • Support efforts to create a regional healthcare delivery system that will allow for increased and proportionate funding as well as shared governance from Mississippi and Arkansas.


Position: The Greater Memphis Chamber endorses the request of The MED for support to sustain its operations.

C. Health Care Reform

 

 

The national debate over healthcare has provided an opportunity for dialogue and consideration of means to improve health care in the United States. While the specific elements of the final bill are not clear at this point and the debate will apparently be ongoing over the next months, there are principles that should be incorporated into any final health care legislation.

  • Step by step reforms to lower costs, improve quality and access, and build a more value-driven system.
  • Build on the strengths of the current market-based and employersponsored system to help more Americans get better, more affordable health care coverage.
  • Favor the private marketplace versus a government-run health care program with new mandates forcing employers to “pay or play”.

Position: The Greater Memphis Chamber supports Healthcare Reform measures that expand access, improve quality and bend the cost curve, while preserving the private options for enrollees to keep what they have in the marketplace. 

D. Memphis Bioworks Foundation

 

The Memphis Bioworks Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, was formed in early 2001 to establish the Memphis region as an internationally recognized center for research and commercialization of bioscience technology. The Foundation is focused on three critical components to support economic development in the biosciences for the Memphis region: 1) building infrastructure, 2) growing the workforce, and 3) driving entrepreneurship.

A major priority for the Foundation is the construction of the UT-Baptist Research Park located in the heart of downtown Memphis’ Medical Center.  The completion of the UT-Baptist Research Park will ultimately yield up to 1.2 million square feet of laboratory and office space supporting the bioscience industry, with approximately $450 million of capital investment. When completed, the entire development will provide as much as $250 million in annual salaries, 5,000 new direct jobs (and 4,000 indirect jobs) and over $2 billion in annual economic impact. Construction totaling more than $80 million has been completed or is underway.

The next phase of the UT-Baptist Research Park is construction of a $30M specialized research laboratory. The project is ready to begin and will create 200 immediate construction jobs, 50-85 direct jobs at completion, and 125 indirect jobs. The Foundation has raised $6M toward this project. Federal support fills in the capital gap for construction of this critically needed facility which will serve as a catalyst for the entire $450 M research park.

Position: The Greater Memphis Chamber supports the requests of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation and the Fast Forward Initiative for continued investment in the UT-Baptist Research Park.

Memphis Bioworks Foundation has also begun implementation of the Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta. A twoyear study coordinated by the nationally-known Battelle Partnership Practice for Memphis Bioworks Foundation identified the opportunity for development of a new biobased economy for the 5-state, 98-county Mississippi Delta Region with Memphis as its geographic and logistics center. There is potential to develop an $8 billion industry, creating 25,000 direct and indirect “green jobs” over the next 10 years, providing major benefits for both urban and rural communities within the region.

More than 50 collaborators have already been identified to assist with this initiative. Federal funding is requested to support a two-year pilot project to: 1) Develop an industrial incubator to prove the effectiveness of new processing approaches for biobased products, redeploying an underutilized industrial site in the Memphis area; 2) Establish and enhance farmer networks of innovative farmers and demonstration plantings at area higher education institutions to test alternative crops; 3) Support agri-business entities (farmers, groups of farmers, and processors) to develop business plans and investment proposals for alternative biobased products including both crop production and processing alternatives.

Position: The Greater Memphis Chamber supports the requests of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation and the Fast Forward Initiative for investment in the Regional Strategy for Biobased Products.