House Energy And Commerce Committee Approves Bill Aiming To Promote Electronic Health Records...

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved by voice vote a modified version of a bill intended to encourage hospitals, physicians and other health care service providers to adopt a nationwide electronic health record system, CongressDaily reports. The bill was revised to clarify measures related to patient privacy protections and uses of the medical records, based on concerns from stakeholders in the health care, technology and consumer advocacy sectors (Noyes, CongressDaily, 7/23). The legislation would approve grants and loans to hospitals and physicians, particularly those with small practices, to purchase health information technology equipment, CQ Today reports. The bill also would require the federal government to develop standards for EHRs. In addition, the bill would require the federal government... [read full story]