Congressional interest in health information technology continues to grow

Two new developments this week underscore the increasing interest around health information technology with Congress.  On Thursday, Representative John Dingell - D Michigan, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released draft legislation designed to encourage the health care industry to adopt means of communicating and exchanging health records (Source: "Dingell and Republican Allies Release Draft Health IT Legislation," CQ Today Print Edition, May 22, 2008 subscription required).  This legislation has the support of Republican leaders on this committee, too.

This legislation contains more extensive privacy protections than the original Kennedy-Enzi legislation, which was approved by the Senate last August, but has since stalled. 

Also, the Congressional Budget Office released a paper exploring the evidence on costs and benefits of health information technology (Source: "Evidence on the costs and benefits of health information technology," CBO, May 2008).  This report does an excellent job of reviewing the different reports and studies on this questions.  It does not draw any conclusions itself.  It does suggest that Congress look at the issue as one that is promoting a social good.  It also indicates that if Congress wants the movement to greater use of health information technology to speed up, Congress will need provide monetary support.