Health IT bill gets nod from doctor groups

The measure would reward physicians who participate in regional information systems with increased Medicare reimbursement.

By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. June 6, 2005.

Several physician groups are throwing their support behind a federal health care information technology bill that promotes the adoption of electronic medical records and seeks to create regional networks and uniform operating standards for information systems.

The American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Physicians, among others, have endorsed the "21st Century Health Information Act of 2005," which has bipartisan backing on Capitol Hill. The bill's goal is to put electronic medical records and e-prescribing technology in every physician's hands and to ensure a seamless flow of data, which its sponsors say will improve patient safety and decrease costs.

The AAFP "wholeheartedly supports this critical and life-saving measure because it takes into account small- and medium-sized practices that are essential for a successful interoperable system," said David C. Kibbe, MD, director of AAFP's Center for Health Information Technology.

At press time, the AMA had not reviewed the bill. It has been supportive of efforts to create an affordable, standards-based electronic health record.

The bill, sponsored in the U.S. House by Reps. Tim Murphy (R, Pa.) and Patrick J. Kennedy (D, R.I.), has seemed to draw more attention than past efforts to implement health care information technology, both because of its content and its support. Political opponents Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D, N.Y.) and Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich appeared together at a press conference last month to endorse the measure.