Kennedy-Enzi EHR Bill Likely To Be Delayed Until After August Recess

Additional action on a bill (S 1693) that would create a national electronic health records system likely will be delayed until after Congress' August recess, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ranking member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) said on Thursday, CongressDaily reports. Enzi introduced the bill in 2007 with committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

According to CongressDaily, the bill's sponsors had hoped to advance the measure to the floor by unanimous consent, but concerns from some lawmakers raised the possibility of the delay. Aides to Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who have called for modifications to the bill, said the two lawmakers would block the bill if it advanced to the floor before the recess.

Snowe said that the language on consumer privacy protections in the bill is inadequate. Coburn said he objected to a provision that authorizes more than $100 million annually toward grant and loan initiatives to encourage adoption of health information technology. He recommended revisions to the bill that would allow hospitals to provide physicians with health IT equipment at a discount or at no cost. He also said language regarding restrictions on patient data-sharing and data breach notification rules needs to be changed.

Meanwhile, committee aides also have been making adjustments to the bill following discussions with health care, technology and consumer advocates, CongressDaily reports. Enzi said, "We keep wordsmithing and wordsmithing," adding, "Health IT is so significant and so important that everyone wants their fingerprints on it," and that is delaying the legislation (Noyes, CongressDaily, 8/1).

Opinion Pieces
Three newspapers on Friday published opinion pieces that address issues related to health IT adoption. Summaries appear below.

• John Hill, Providence Journal: The U.S. "needs a national health information network that respects patient confidentiality but that also lets hospitals share records across states quickly, seamlessly and accurately," Hill, a professor of accounting at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, writes in a Journal opinion piece. According to Hill, "a national legal framework to create such a network" is required, but "current legal barriers to such a network's formation include a patchwork of state and federal patient-privacy laws, flaws in federal physician anti-kickback and anti-self-referral statutes, prohibitions against practicing medicine across state lines, and concerns about medical malpractice in an electronic health care environment." He continues, lawmakers "rave about the need for affordable health care, but too little is done in the area of eHealth," and "[i]nstead of taking the initiative and forcing the issue top down, they are implicitly hoping for a bottom-up solution while taking partisan stances in the periodic debates over medical-malpractice liability," Hill writes. Establishing a national health IT network is "one area where the federal government could act and needs to act," he writes, adding, "but will Congress and the next administration have the vision and political courage to make a bold move that could save countless [lives] and reduce health care costs?" He concludes, "The nation needs revolution, not evolution, in health care informatics" (Hill, Providence Journal, 8/1).
  
  
• Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)/former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), San Jose Mercury News: "Today, technological innovation flourishes everywhere but health care," Kerry and Gingrich, founder of the Center for Health Transformation, write in a Mercury News opinion piece. Kerry and Gingrich highlight recent national and state initiatives and bipartisan legislation to encourage broader adoption of electronic prescribing. However, they note that "[w]hile the recent progress on e-prescribing is important, it will not be enough unless and until we implement broader, more comprehensive payment reforms that push health care providers to use" health IT. Kerry and Gingrich conclude, "With the right solutions and by looking forward instead of left or right, we can finally bring medical care into the 21st century," which is "something that even Democrats and Republicans can agree on" (Kerry/Gingrich, San Jose Mercury News, 8/1).
  
  
• Former Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.)/ former Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.), Washington Times: "To enjoy the benefits of health IT, Congress must act now to pass legislation that will lead to creation of standards for easy electronic data exchange between caregivers," Bass, president of the Republican Main Street Partnership, and Johnson write in a Times opinion piece. They write that such standards "are necessary to create a national system of records that can be accessed and utilized at all points in the health care system." They continue, "Health IT legislation should also include adequate security and privacy protections for patient information without jeopardizing the viability of health IT by exposing providers to unreasonable liability burdens," and it "should offer financial incentives to encourage adoption of new technology while educating Americans on the value of such new technology." They conclude, "The time to act is now" because "American consumers deserve a health care system that reflects today's technologies" and "a Congress that will deliver on cost-saving and lifesaving legislation" (Bass/Johnson, Washington Times, 8/1).