An inaugural first

Let the record show that new President Barack Obama mentioned health IT in his inaugural address today. It had become a point of pride in health IT circles that President George W. Bush had mentioned the need for technology to improve healthcare in the last four State of the Union addresses, but today marks the first time it’s been the part of a presidential inauguration.

From the text of Obama’s speech as he actually delivered it, according to the AP/Yahoo transcription:

The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.