Pending EMR Legislation

Wired for Health Care Quality Act (S 1693) seeks to enhance the adoption of a nationwide interoperable health information technology system and to improve the quality and reduce the costs of health care in the United States.

The bill is one of the most prominent pieces of legislation on EMRs. However, APA has opposed the bill for failure to provide safeguards of patient confidentiality, ensure that quality measures are developed through a transparent consensus process that involves representatives of national physician organizations, and ensure that adequate and direct funding will be in place to meet the needs of physicians who must bear the financial burden of implementing health information technology, among other shortcomings. A summary of the bill can be accessed at <http://thomas.loc.gov:> by searching on the bill number S 1693.


Promoting Health Information Technology Act (HR 3800) is the House companion to S 1693. A summary is posted at<www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3800&tab=summary>.


Independent Health Records Trust Act (HR 2991) was introduced by Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) and seeks to encourage the creation, use, and maintenance of lifetime electronic health records of individuals in independent health record trusts and to provide a secure and privacy-protected framework in which such records are made available only by the affirmative consent of such individuals. A summary of the bill can be accessed at <http://thomas.loc.gov:> by searching on the bill number HR 2991.>.


Health Information Privacy and Security Act (S 1814) seeks to provide individuals with access to their health information, ensure personal privacy regarding health-related information, promote the use of nonidentifiable information for health research, and impose criminal and civil penalties for unauthorized use of protected health information. A summary of the bill can be accessed at <http://thomas.loc.gov:> by searching on the bill number S 1814.