Doctors could get federal funds for IT

Senate legislation would establish a funding stream for health information technology. Sponsors drop a Stark law exemption.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Aug. 8, 2005.

Washington -- Bipartisan legislation that would establish tens of millions of dollars in information technology grants to physicians and other medical professionals is leading the pack of health IT bills on Capitol Hill.

The Wired for Health Care Quality Act, which has garnered significant support from Republicans and Democrats, passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in late July. At press time, bill handlers were preparing the measure for a vote on the Senate floor.

If Congress and President Bush approve the bill, it would establish a funding stream of $125 million starting in fiscal year 2006 for IT grants to health professionals. The figure would increase to $150 million in 2007, after which lawmakers would decide how much to devote to the technology grants in each annual budget.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D, Mass.), the ranking member on the health committee and co-author of one of the two bipartisan bills merged to create the consensus measure, said federal assistance for cash-strapped health professionals was long overdue.

"Currently, physicians and other care providers face information overload and a fragmented medical system where information is not available when needed," he said. "We would not expect a pilot to land a jumbo jet without a computer, but we expect physicians to keep in their heads the thousands of treatments they might prescribe and the effects of combining each of them. No wonder the system occasionally breaks down."