Joint Committees on Health Care Financing and Economic Development; Saving Lives and Reducing Costs in Health Care Joint Oversight Hearing; Testimony of Chris Anderson, MHTC

Testimony of Christopher R. Anderson, President
Massachusetts High Technology Council, Inc.
May 5, 2005

The Massachusetts High Technology Council was formed in 1977 by high tech CEO’s whose mission is to help make Massachusetts the most competitive place in which to create, operate, and expand high tech businesses. That remains our mission today. Council members employ hundreds of thousands of skilled workers in all of Massachusetts’s key technology sectors, including computer hardware, life sciences, software, medical products, semiconductor, and telecommunications. Our board includes the executive leadership of tech employers such as EMC, Boston Scientific, Analog Devices, Genzyme, and Thermo Electron.

Each year, High Tech Council CEOs rate their top policy priorities through our annual survey. We break out the survey into policy areas which are critical to a competitive high tech economy: Fiscal/economic policy, workforce training and education, public infrastructure and health care. It’s no surprise that fiscal policy concerns tend to dominate the top rankings every year, but this year, a number of health care items made their way into the top 10 items on our agenda.

As many experts have said, there is no magic elixir for the health care system, either in Massachusetts or on the national stage. There are however, many specific actions we can take in Massachusetts to improve access, quality and cost efficiency. One such crucial step is the e-health initiative that has been championed by MTC.

But at the same time we must also work to reduce the high costs and the negative impact on health care quality caused by the costs of the state’s professional medical liability insurance system. We must stick with and enhance successful reforms to the state’s uncompensated care pool. We must push for transparency in the state’s health care delivery system, as envisioned by Charlie Baker of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. The state must not create employer mandates, but look for creative solutions for addressing health care access issues. 

As I just mentioned, the use of technology in health care delivery rated in the top 10 for technology CEOs this year. While technology CEOs view the e-health initiative as a way to create a safer, more efficient and cost effective health care delivery system, they also see it as an important business opportunity for technology firms. After all a technology company must create the equipment, software platforms, communications systems, data storage facilities and other application that are used in hospitals, community health centers, research labs and more.

Roughly one job in seven in Massachusetts is the health care field. The lines of what is a traditional technology firm or a traditional health care company are blending. Supporting technology in health care will reinforce Massachusetts’ positon as a national leader in this field.

A recent national survey showed that Massachusetts had dropped out of the top five “technology states” in terms of employment numbers. But beyond the headline was the fact that this study used a very narrow definition of what a technology company should be. It did not include health care technology or even life sciences jobs in its report, which are two obvious areas of strength for Massachusetts. We should be proud of our technological diversity and implement policies that specifically support our entire technology economy.

We have been working with MassInsight, MTC, AIM and others on the Science & Technology Initiative, which is designed to create a statewide, technology bases economic stimulus plan. Through the SciTech Road Map we identified core competencies within Massachusetts and how to create strategic alliances; we found that health care related applicati