{
  "id": "RL32858",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32858",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 305234,
      "date": "2005-04-13",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:47:07.689029",
      "title": "Health Information Technology: Promoting Electronic Connectivity in Healthcare",
      "summary": "The Institute of Medicine, the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, and other\nexpert\npanels have identified information technology (IT) as one of the most powerful tools for reducing\nmedical errors, lowering health costs, and improving the quality of care. However, the U.S. health\ncare industry lags far behind other sectors of the economy in its investment in IT, despite growing\nevidence that electronic information systems can play a critical role in addressing the many\nchallenges the industry faces. Adoption of health IT systems faces significant financial, legal, and\ntechnical obstacles.\n \n Congress and the Administration have taken a number of important steps to promote health IT. \nThe 2003 Medicare Modernization Act instructed the HHS Secretary to adopt electronic prescription\nstandards and establish a Commission for Systemic Interoperability. The Commission is charged\nwith developing a comprehensive strategy for implementing data and messaging standards to support\nthe electronic exchange of clinical data. On April 27, 2004, President Bush called for the widespread\nadoption of interoperable electronic health records (EHRs) within 10 years and established the\nposition of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Pursuant to the\nPresident\u2019s\norder, the National Coordinator has developed a strategic 10-year plan outlining steps to transform\nthe delivery of health care by adopting EHRs and developing a National Health Information\nInfrastructure (NHII) to link such records nationwide.\n \n The strategic plan identifies several potential policy options for providing incentives for EHR\nadoption. They include: providing grants to stimulate EHRs and regional information exchange\nsystems; offering low-rate loans and loan guarantees for EHR adoption; amending federal rules (e.g.,\nMedicare physician self-referral law) that may unintentionally impede the development of electronic\nconnectivity among health care providers; and using Medicare reimbursement to reward EHR use.\n \n Health IT has broad bipartisan support among lawmakers. The 109th Congress is likely to\nconsider legislation to boost federal investment and leadership in health IT and provide incentives\nboth for EHR adoption and for the creation of regional health information networks, which are seen\nas a critical step towards the goal of interconnecting the health care system nationwide. Several\nhealth IT bills were introduced during the last Congress and, to date, two bills ( H.R. 747 ,  S. 16 ) have been introduced this year. Congress laid the groundwork for\nestablishing an NHII when it enacted the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act\n(HIPAA). HIPAA instructed the HHS Secretary to develop privacy standards to give patient more\ncontrol over the use of their medical information, and security standards to safeguard electronic\npatient information against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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}