A bill authorizing more than $560 million in grants and loans to encourage the use of electronic health records passed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday.
The grant and loan money would be available to provider settings, including nursing homes, small facilities, rural facilities, nonprofit healthcare providers and facilities that promise to link their systems to local or regional health IT plans. These grants would be disbursed through three competitive grants programs. In some instances, the bill would allow for federal dollar-for-dollar matching funds for facilities that spend some of their own money on healthcare IT.
Representative John Dingell (D-MI) introduced the bill (H.R. 6357) to the House in late June of this year. While the bill does contain federal patient security and privacy stipulations, Deborah C. Peel of the group Patient Privacy Rights say these measures do not go far enough (McKnight’s, 6/27).
