Physicians and hospitals could compete for federal grants to help purchase or improve electronic health record systems under provisions of a bill that was introduced, debated and passed July 20 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The Wired for Health Care Quality Act, S. 1418, was introduced and acted on so quickly that the AAFP has not yet taken a position on it. However, the bill contains several provisions supported by the Academy, said Kevin Burke, director of the AAFP Division of Government Relations.
The Wired for Health Care Quality Act would:
- provide competitive grants to physicians and others to buy or improve certified health information technology systems;
- provide competitive grants to states for low-cost loans to physicians and others to buy or upgrade health IT;
- authorize the implementation and certification of health information standards;
- create a demonstration program to integrate health IT into clinical education;
- require development of evidence-based, risk-adjusted health quality measures that cover process, structure, patient experience, efficiency and equity and that identify overuse, underuse and misuse of health care services; and
- establish a Center for Best Practices to provide technical assistance to health IT users.
The Wired for Health Care Quality Act combines the provisions of and replaces two previous proposals: the Health Technology to Enhance Quality Act, S. 1262, and the Better Healthcare Through Information Technology Act, S. 1355.
The four senators who had introduced the two bills now removed from the Senate calendar sponsored the Wired for Health Care Quality Act. The four are Sens. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo.; Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.; Bill Frist, R-Tenn.; and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
