<nobr>Nov 9, 2005</nobr>

Confidentiality Coalition Letter in Support of Johnson HIT Bill

November - - -, 2005


The Honorable Nancy Johnson
Chairwoman
House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515


Dear Madam Chairwoman:

The undersigned organizations support the provisions within H.R 4157, the “Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2005” that would establish a process for achieving national uniform privacy and security standards for healthcare information based on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) regulations. Many of these organizations are members of the Confidentiality Coalition, a broad-based group of health and employer organizations founded to advance effective patient confidentiality protections.

We believe that efforts underway by Congress and the Administration to facilitate and encourage widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records can greatly improve quality of care, reduce medical errors and achieve greater efficiencies within our healthcare system. However, the lack of a national standard for patient privacy and security laws and regulations will impede these objectives. Without Congressional action, medical providers attempting to work together through interoperable health information technology systems would be subject to a confusing maze of state laws, rules, and regulations.

We believe that these provisions offer an appropriate solution to this issue by allowing a state law study to be conducted first to determine the best way to achieve uniformity. If Congress fails to act upon the recommendations produced from the study, then HHS is charged with developing a uniform rule based on HIPAA. Importantly, these provisions provide a course of action and ensure that a national standard will be achieved.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue. We look forward to working with you and your staff on this important issue.

AdvaMed
American Clinical Laboratory Association
Amerinet
Federation of American Hospitals
Healthcare Leadership Council
National Association of Health Underwriters
National Association of Healthcare Access Management
National Association of Manufacturers
Premier, Inc.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce


cc: The Honorable Bill Thomas
The Honorable Joe Barton
The Honorable Nathan Deal

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