President Obama to Address AIPAC Policy Conference

From Press Secretary Jay Carney's Daily Press Briefing on February 21:

First, we are pleased to announce that the President will address this year's annual AIPAC policy conference in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, March 4.  The President welcomes this opportunity to speak to the strength of the special bonds between Israel and the United States.  As you know and has been previously announced, the President has a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu on March 5th, the day after.

Jarrod Bernstein is the Director of Jewish Outreach in the Office of Public Engagement.

National Student Poets Program

“What you learn through reading and writing poetry will stay with you throughout your life.  It will spark your imagination and broaden your horizons and even help your performance in the classroom.”

First Lady Michelle Obama, Honorary Chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities (PCAH), to high school students from across the country at a poetry workshop sponsored by the White House.

The mission of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities is, in part, to promote initiatives that give young people the opportunity to experience the mastery, discipline and accomplishment that are part of being an artist and a scholar.  For the past 18 months the President’s Committee has focused specifically on the critical role the arts and humanities play in preparing students for success in the knowledge and innovation economy. 

The new National Student Poets Program embodies these two priorities, and is born of many months of groundwork and partnership-building.

Giving Doctors and Hospitals the Tools They Need to Provide Better Care

Ed. note: This blog is cross-posted from HHS

Last week, I visited the Metropolitan Community College where I toured the Virtual Hospital and Patient Simulation Lab. This facility is a great example of how Community Colleges are training the skilled workforce that is so critical to creating and running successful Health IT systems.

When doctors and hospitals use Health IT, it reduces errors, cuts paperwork, and lowers costs. Over the past 3 years, the Obama Administration has made it a top priority to make it easier for doctors and hospitals to adopt Health IT.

We’re providing incentive payments to hospitals and eligible providers to adopt electronic health records and use them to improve patient care. We created 62 Health IT Regional Extension Centers around the country to help health care providers take advantage of those incentives. Already, more than 120,000 primary care providers, including over 70% of rural primary care providers in small practices, have registered to use those incentives.

At community colleges we’re training the skilled workforce that is essential to sustaining this investment. More than 9,000 community college students have already completed Health IT training through federally supported workforce programs, with thousands more enrolled.

And last week, we announced that these investments are already making a difference. New data shows that nearly 2,000 hospitals and more than 41,000 doctors have received $3.1 billion in incentive payments for meaningful use of Health IT, particularly certified Electronic Health Records (EHR).  Meaningful use requires doctors to give their patients a summary of their office visit. Like a receipt, this clearly explains at a glance the care the patient received and the next steps for both the patient and provider.