House Approves Legislation to Help Small Practices Purchase Health IT Systems

Congress has moved a step closer to approving a bill that would give small and solo physician practices the ability to obtain low-cost loans for the purchase of health information technology, or health IT, systems.

The House passed the Small Business Health Information Technology Act, or H.R. 3014 (at the THOMAS Web site, type "H.R. 3014" in the search box after selecting "Bill Number"), on Nov. 18. The bill would create a new lending program within the Small Business Administration to allow small and solo physician practices to obtain low-cost loans from their local banks for the purchase of health IT. According to the legislation, the loans would be as much as 90 percent guaranteed and would carry a subsidized deferment period of as many as three years.

The legislation would complement the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA, of 2009, which authorizes $36 billion for health IT. However, the ARRA does not provide any upfront capital for purchasing health IT systems, which created the need for a bill to fill that void.

"The number one barrier for a lot of physicians to adopt (health IT) is cost and a lack of access to capital," said Steve Waldren, M.D., director of the AAFP's Center for Health IT. "This particular bill will afford the ability to have access to that capital. It is not free money, but it is low-interest loans."

The loans are limited to hardware and software products and services to help physicians achieve "meaningful use" of health IT systems. It does not apply to health IT systems used solely for financial management, maintenance of supply inventories or appointment-scheduling.

The AAFP played a key role in helping draft H.R. 3014, which was introduced in the House Small Business Committee by Rep. Kathleen Dahlkemper, D-Pa. AAFP leaders met with committee staff to talk about health IT issues and the challenges small physician practices face when trying to purchase technology.

"We had input during the bill-writing process. We gave committee staff (members') recommendations and comments," said Waldren. "The AAFP is considered a national leader in health IT and a key stakeholder group, and the committee staff wanted to make sure they were doing the right thing for primary care."

The AAFP also sent letters supporting the legislation to Capitol Hill, and, in late July, AAFP member Sterling Ransone, M.D., of Deltaville, Va., testified in support of the measure before the House Small Business Committee's Subcommittee on Finance and Tax.