<nobr>Jun 8, 2006</nobr>

House Panel Approves Health IT Legislation

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee approved an ERIC-supported bill June 8 to spur the use of electronic medical records after removing two provisions from a version a Ways and Means panel approved last month. Approved by voice vote in the Health Subcommittee, the measure (H.R. 4157) would encourage the creation of national standards for data storage and sharing and codify the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology — created by executive order in 2004 — within the Department of Health and Human Services.

Expanding the use of health information technology has been a priority for President Bush, who has called for most Americans to have electronic records within a decade. The Ways and Means Health Subcommittee approved the bill, sponsored by Rep. Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT), on May 24. The two committees share jurisdiction of the bill and will have to work out their differences before bringing the legislation to the floor. The Energy and Commerce language more closely mirrors the measure (S. 1418) approved in November by the Senate.

A substitute amendment, adopted by voice vote, stripped a provision from Johnson’s bill that had elicited opposition from many insurers. That language would have increased the number of diagnosis and procedure codes from 24,000 to more than 200,000. Insurers and providers use the codes for billing, and proponents say more codes would allow them to better track coverage trends and medical outcomes. The health information technology bill passed by the Senate does not include the coding provision.

The Senate bill would authorize funding for grants to encourage providers to adopt health information technology. The House bill includes no such provision. The Committee-approved language also removed a provision from Johnson’s legislation that would have allowed federal privacy standards to pre-empt state laws.

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