The Wall Street Journal /Dow Jones Newswires (1/17, Yoest) reported, "House Democrats unveiled the details of a $20 billion health information technology plan as part of their larger stimulus package on Friday, an approach that could allow them to avoid the objections that have stalled similar legislation in recent years." The proposal would "create incentives for doctors who adopt electronic health record technology," and establish "an Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the Health and Human Services Department by the end of 2009." Although the legislation "would not require healthcare providers to use health technology," physicians "would initially receive $40,000 to $65,000 to use the technology." Similarly, "hospitals would be eligible for 'several million dollars' in incentives through Medicare and Medicaid." Furthermore, "providers who do not use a certified health technology would begin to see their Medicare payments decrease" beginning in 2016. But, similar legislative efforts "have seen little success on the Hill in recent years, due largely to concerns about privacy."
Healthcare industry, consumer groups disagree over privacy protections in health IT. The New York Times (1/18, A16, Pear) reported, "President-elect Barack Obama's plan to link up doctors and hospitals with new information technology, as part of an ambitious job-creation program, is imperiled by a bitter, seemingly intractable dispute over how to protect the privacy of electronic medical records." As part of the economic stimulus package, "congressional leaders plan to provide $20 billion for such technology." But, lawmakers are facing "a crossfire of lobbying by the healthcare industry and consumer groups." Some lobbyists contend "doctors, hospitals, drugstores and insurance companies would be much more efficient if they could exchange data instantaneously through electronic health information networks." Meanwhile, consumer groups and "some members of Congress" are calling for "stronger privacy protections" to accompany the new spending. On the other hand, "lobbyists for insurers, drug benefit managers and others in the health industry are mobilizing a campaign to persuade Congress that overly stringent privacy protections would frustrate the potential benefits of digital records."
Survey indicates 60 percent of respondents oppose increased spending on health IT. Modern Healthcare (1/19, Vesely) reported, "Americans expressed little support for increased federal spending on health information technology, according to a survey released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health." Investigators conducted "telephone interviews with a random sampling of 1,628 adults in English and Spanish between Dec. 4 and Dec. 14, 2008." They found that 60 percent of respondents "said that, when considering the federal budget, the incoming President and Congress should keep spending on health IT the same. Just 20 percent said that spending for health IT should go up, while 17 percent said that spending should drop." In contrast, "64 percent of respondents said that the federal government should increase spending for veterans' medical care."
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