Lawmakers focus on federal role in promoting health IT systems

One bill would charge physicians fees for using a national EMR system; another would offer incentives to join and let doctors participate at no cost.

By Dave Hansen, AMNews staff. July 2, 2007.

The lack of widespread electronic medical records is a "giant market failure," says Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D, R.I.). And he doesn't think physicians should pay to fix it.

The lawmaker recently introduced a bill to establish a federally chartered nonprofit organization that would set up, fund and manage an EMR system.

Health information technology shows great promise in reducing health care expenses, yet few physicians embrace it, because the money saved goes to health insurance companies, Whitehouse said.

Dumping the cost on the federal government won't happen in an era of budget deficits, Whitehouse concluded. So he took a different tack in his legislation, known as the National Health Information Technology and Privacy Advancement Act of 2007.

The federally charted corporation would design, build and operate the national health information system and set user fees for physicians, individuals and health insurance companies. The system would be interoperable with pre-existing health information technology equipment and systems.

Patient privacy would be a top priority of the corporation, which would establish transparent and accountable privacy guidelines. The organization also would appoint a chief privacy officer to protect patients' personal information from illegal use.

Whitehouse isn't alone. Reps. Dennis Moore (D, Kan.) and Paul Ryan (R, Wis.) plan to introduce similar legislation, the Independent Health Record Trust Act, in the House soon.