The U.S. health system is drowning in paper, and we are all paying for it in higher costs, less effective care, and medical errors. What has held back the adoption of health IT? How realistic are the hopes that health IT can promote delivery of high-value health care? Will the $21 billion for health IT in the stimulus bill jump-start progress in this area?

Addressing these and other questions will be Leah Binder, CEO of the Leapfrog Group, a consortium of major employers and large private and public health care purchasers, who will discuss the group’s recent evaluation of how well hospitals have implemented their computerized medication systems, and Joseph Swedish, president and CEO of Trinity Health, a national network of hospitals and health care services, who will describe Trinity's experience implementing electronic health records in its facilities. Responding will be University of Minnesota professor Stephen Parente, director of the Medical Industry Leadership Institute, and University of Texas professor Benjamin Sasse, a former assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. AEI's Joseph Antos will moderate.

In the closing keynote address, David Snow, chairman and CEO of Medco, a leading pharmacy benefit manager, will discuss opportunities to build on existing health information systems to identify more effective treatments and improve the overall quality of care.