Push continues for electronic health records

Bills set the foundation for action in the next Congress.

By Markian Hawryluk, AMNews staff. June 14, 2004.

Washington -- Another key senator has joined the ranks of influential lawmakers who have backed the notion of electronic health records.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D, Mass.) introduced legislation in May that could foster the development of electronic records and provide financial incentives for their use.

Health care information technology is one of the few health issues on which Republicans and Democrats seem to agree, but continued wrangling over last year's Medicare Modernization Act and looming elections have cut that momentum to foundation-building for next year.

Kennedy's bill would require standards for interoperability of electronic health records to be finalized by Jan. 1, 2006, and would provide grants, loans and loan guarantees to help health care practitioners implement the technology. The legislation also would offer larger reimbursements to hospitals and other facilities that implement these types of information systems.

Under the measure, health care information technology would be used to improve quality of care by tracking performance on clinical measures and requiring both public and private payers to cut payments to practitioners who fail to meet quality standards.

"The legislation is an effective way to modernize and improve the health care system by using modern information technology, by paying for value and results and not simply for procedures performed or patients admitted to hospitals, and by focusing on improving quality and preventing disease," Kennedy said.