Letter to Senators Stabenow and Snowe on the Introduction of Health Information Technology Act

The Honorable Debbie Stabenow
133 Hart Office Building
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Olympia Snowe
154 Russell Office Building
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senators Stabenow and Snowe:

On behalf of the 94,000 members of the American Academy of Family Physicians, congratulations on the introduction of the Health Information Technology Act. The AAFP strongly supports this legislation and we would be pleased to help you in your efforts to have Congress pass it.

The legislation recognizes that the main obstacles to widespread adoption of electronic health record systems are the significant up-front costs and the lack of general interoperability of many fragmented electronic systems. In the first case, the estimated costs of about $25,000 per physician to purchase an electronic health record system is a serious problem for family physicians in small practices that have very tight financial margins in which to operate. In the second case, even if the financing is available, a family physician will be reluctant to invest in health information technology that cannot communicate with a nearby lab or the specialist across town.

By helping physicians with the financing of these systems and by facilitating the development of interoperability standards, your legislation would go a long way to improving the quality and efficiency of health care delivery in this county.

Thank you for your leadership in this effort. We are committed to working with you to secure passage of this important legislation.

Sincerely,


Michael Fleming, MD, FAAFP
Board Chair