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More Details on the $20 billion Health IT Portion of Stimulus Bill
Colleagues,
As reported in Government Health IT...the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides $2 billion to increase the capacity of the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC), which is now operating with an annual budget of less than $61 million.
Some of the money will help support regional health information exchanges and similar services. Other funds will go to states, and ONC will establish health IT regional extension centers to help advance health IT.
It also includes health IT money for the Social Security Administration, Indian Health Service, community health centers, medical schools and other institutions.
The bulk of the funding will go to Medicare and Medicaid providers — both individuals, such as doctors, and hospitals and other organizations — as substantial incentives to use e-medical records, beginning in 2011.The providers will be penalized if they do not adopt EMRs by 2014 or 2015.
Nearly one-tenth of the bill’s pages are devoted to health IT. Notable provisions include:
* Privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 are strengthened, and their applicability is extended to more individuals and organizations that have access to patients’ health records.
* ONC is required to appoint a chief privacy officer to advise the national coordinator on privacy and security issues.
* New health IT policy and standards committees will be established as federal advisory committees.
* Although the bill sets a goal of having e-health records for every American by 2014, the bill specifies that patients are not required to have EHRs.
* Health care providers and insurers that contract with the federal government must use standards-compliant health IT systems and products.
* The National Institute of Standards and Technology will test health IT standards.
* Organizations and individuals that have patients’ health records will be required to report breaches of that data.
* Sales of health records will be restricted largely, making the data available to researchers and public health authorities but few others.
* In a controversial provision that persisted into the final bill, state attorneys general can sue individuals to enforce HIPAA privacy and security standards.
ENJOY!
CC
As reported in Government Health IT...the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides $2 billion to increase the capacity of the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC), which is now operating with an annual budget of less than $61 million.
Some of the money will help support regional health information exchanges and similar services. Other funds will go to states, and ONC will establish health IT regional extension centers to help advance health IT.
It also includes health IT money for the Social Security Administration, Indian Health Service, community health centers, medical schools and other institutions.
The bulk of the funding will go to Medicare and Medicaid providers — both individuals, such as doctors, and hospitals and other organizations — as substantial incentives to use e-medical records, beginning in 2011.The providers will be penalized if they do not adopt EMRs by 2014 or 2015.
Nearly one-tenth of the bill’s pages are devoted to health IT. Notable provisions include:
* Privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 are strengthened, and their applicability is extended to more individuals and organizations that have access to patients’ health records.
* ONC is required to appoint a chief privacy officer to advise the national coordinator on privacy and security issues.
* New health IT policy and standards committees will be established as federal advisory committees.
* Although the bill sets a goal of having e-health records for every American by 2014, the bill specifies that patients are not required to have EHRs.
* Health care providers and insurers that contract with the federal government must use standards-compliant health IT systems and products.
* The National Institute of Standards and Technology will test health IT standards.
* Organizations and individuals that have patients’ health records will be required to report breaches of that data.
* Sales of health records will be restricted largely, making the data available to researchers and public health authorities but few others.
* In a controversial provision that persisted into the final bill, state attorneys general can sue individuals to enforce HIPAA privacy and security standards.
ENJOY!
CC
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