[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 58 (Wednesday, April 3, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO LAURA ADAMS

 Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, in 2002, as Rhode Island's 
attorney general, I launched an organization aimed at helping Rhode 
Island's healthcare system reduce waste and improve care for our 
patients. The first hire at the new Rhode Island Quality Institute was 
Laura Adams. Convincing her to join us as president and CEO was our 
extremely good fortune. As Laura steps aside from those duties, I come 
to the floor today to recognize her many contributions to our 
healthcare system, in Rhode Island and nationwide, and to wish her well 
in her next adventure.
  Lowering costs and improving quality in our healthcare system is, to 
say the least, a vital purpose. The Rhode Island Quality Institute was 
established to tackle some of the main drivers of America's healthcare 
problems, to improve health and advance the quality and value of care 
in Rhode Island. Under the leadership of Laura Adams, that mission 
achieved national recognition. As Laura prepares to leave, the 
institute's innovation and expertise is helping improve care around the 
country.
  Laura got off to a very strong start. In 2002, the RIQI collaborated 
with Surescripts to pioneer a first in the Nation, end-to-end 
electronic prescribing system. Today, Surescripts has scaled up to 
every state in the country, with virtually every prescriber using it. 
In 2007, Child Magazine pointed to the State's uptake in e-prescribing 
as a key reason for ranking Rhode Island first overall on its list of 
the ``Safest Places in the Nation to Raise a Child.''
  Laura then turned to another big challenge for our healthcare system: 
hospital-acquired infections. In 2005, with Laura as Principal 
Investigator, RIQI launched the Rhode Island Intensive Care Unit 
Collaborative to identify ways to reduce the incidence of infections 
among ICU patients. By 2012, Rhode Island ICUs had shown significant 
improvement on several key types of infections.
  In 2004, Laura and RIQI joined the Rhode Department of Health to 
apply for Federal funding to build an ambitious, innovative statewide 
health information exchange. RIQI took the lead building and 
maintaining the resulting system, CurrentCare. It took tremendous 
technical expertise to confront the complex governance, business, 
privacy, and security challenges involved. Laura, with the assistance 
of a talented lawyer, Linn Freedman, proved more than equal to the 
task. A 2017 analysis shows that CurrentCare returns millions of 
dollars in savings to our healthcare system.
  Over the course of the development of CurrentCare, RIQI became the 
only organization in the country to win all three major health 
information technology grants under the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act, bringing in a total of $27 million to Rhode Island. 
Federal agencies like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 
and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology awarded RIQI substantial Federal grants to tackle difficult 
specialized challenges. RIQI has been recognized by government and 
healthcare leaders, chambers of commerce, and leading business 
publications for its numerous innovations. It has also been 
consistently recognized as one of the best places to work in Rhode 
Island.
  In the process, Laura has won national acclaim. This year, a leading 
national hospital publication placed her on their list of ``Female 
Health IT Leaders to Know'' for her ``significant contributions to 
health IT advancements, leading large teams, initiatives and companies 
focused on improving patient care.'' She has delivered hundreds of 
keynotes and presentations in 48 States and a dozen foreign countries. 
She has been named a cochair of the National Academy of Medicine Health 
Data Trust Initiative Steering Committee, and she has been appointed to 
numerous professional and corporate boards.
  Laura Adams has poured her considerable talent, experience, and 
dedication into making the Rhode Island Quality Institute a national 
leader in health innovation and transformation. I thank her for years 
of service to Rhode Island and to our healthcare system 
nationwide.

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