Legislation that would promote the use of healthcare information technology was passed out of the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees in the U.S. House of Representatives late last week.
H.R. 4157, the Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2005, was passed by the Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 28-14, while the Ways and Means Committee approved its version 23-17, according to Congressional Quarterly Today (CQ Today).
The legislation would codify the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within the Department of Healthcare and Human Services (HHS), establish a committee to make recommendations on national standards for medical data storage, and develop a permanent structure to govern national interoperability standards, CQ Today reported.
The two versions of legislation will need to be reconciled before consideration by the full House. The U.S. Senate passed similar health IT legislation, S. 1418, in November 2005.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
June 19, 2006
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Insurer group promotes health record interoperability, May 19, 2006
HHS IT head steps down, April 21, 2006
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