It’s time now for healthcare IT. We agree with the group that recently banded under a similar name – Health IT Now! The coalition is so-called, perhaps, because Health IT Yesterday! lacks the right ring. But, it really should have been “yesterday” that we passed healthcare IT legislation. But Health IT Yesterday! really does not strike the right ring.

And you have to have a ring, a loud one, to convey a sense of urgency, at a time when the War in Iraq (3,555 American soldiers killed at this writing) and the immigration debate are taking up most of the mindshare and energy in Washington.

Because what to do about Iraq and immigration are two of the most critical and complicated problems the country faces today doesn’t mean we can’t tackle other critical issues. We must.

The healthcare system is already past crisis – call it super crisis. It’s already way behind other countries.

Now two former members of Congress have stepped up to spur congressional action on healthcare IT. Former Rep. Nancy Johnson and former Sen. John Breaux are co-chairing the coalition of patients, practitioners and employers called Health IT Now!

“The debate over how to deploy health IT has gone on long enough,” Johnson said in announcing the coalition. “With today’s announcement patients, health practitioners and employers are stepping up and saying it’s time for Congress to act. There is broad consensus on a series of steps that Congress can take to eliminate barriers, establish guidelines and empower patients and the healthcare industry to take advantage of cutting-edge information technologies. We believe Congress should act this year to send a bill to the President that fosters the adoption of health IT.”

Kudos to Johnson, the Republican Congresswoman from Connecticut who was unseated in the 2004 election,  Bravo for Breaux, the Democratic senator from Louisiana who decided not to run for re-election in 2004. They might have gone golfing after losing the election.

They might have left public service behind them and immersed themselves in other aspects of their lives. But here they are continuing the work they began while in office. Thank you.

We hope the coalition can stir Congress to take action on this topic. Healthcare truly is a bi-partisan issue, and it needs the support and clout of our national government.

“Health IT Now! cuts across traditional political divisions to support an issue that is “neither left nor right, and certainly not just Democratic or Republican,” said Breaux.

As the Congress takes note of this new coalition, we also urge the presidential candidates from both parties to consider healthcare IT as part of their healthcare reform plans – if, indeed, they have such plans. So far, only three of 18 candidates have presented plans for healthcare reform – Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards. Others have mentioned healthcare, but provided no details – yet.

It’s imperative for the country to have a plan, and it’s clear that healthcare IT must be part of it.

The Health IT Now! coalition has even laid out what the legislation should include. It’s a start. And, as we go to press, there is a bi-partisan healthcare IT bill put forth by four senators. Things are looking up.

We all know that all other industries are already automated. It’s way overdue for healthcare. The headache is not going to go away.