Bush to impose health care IT standards.(Focus)(George W. Bush)(Brief article)

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration will soon launch an initiative that will require all providers of federally financed health care to adopt quality-measurement tools and uniform standards for their information technology.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt asserted that President Bush will sign an executive order establishing the new requirement and that most of the 100 largest private employers will sign similar contracts with hospitals and physicians they use to care for their employees by the end of the year.

Also, last month Leavitt announced final regulations that will support physician adoption of electronic prescribing and electronic …