Oregon could become a national leader in the effort to create centralized electronic health records in the U.S., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday in Portland, the Oregonian reports. Pelosi said that EHRs are essential for lowering medical costs, reducing medical errors and improving care in rural areas.

Pelosi said, "This is the future. I see Oregon taking the lead in that future." Pelosi said that a focus on EHRs will not detract from efforts to increase access to care for the uninsured. "We're not talking about this as some kind of elitist thing for people who already have health care," she said, adding, "We're talking about it as essential."

Pelosi delivered her comments after a roundtable discussion at Oregon Health & Science University with local medical experts, hospital administrators and lawmakers including Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) and Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D). Pelosi has undertaken an "innovation agenda" during which she will promote technological progress and an increase in the number of scientists, mathematicians and engineers who graduate from U.S. schools.

In related news, Kulongoski at the meeting announced that Oregon has received $20 million in federal grants to install broadband cable at rural medical facilities around the state (Esteve, Oregonian, 11/28).