Health Information Technology
Greater use of health information technology (HIT), use of interoperable electronic health records (EHRs), and implementation of systems to enable electronic prescribing by physicians have the potential for improving the quality of patient care, reducing medical errors, increasing efficiency, reducing administrative costs, and achieving substantial cost savings. ACP believes that the federal government must substantially increase funding to achieve an interoperable health information technology (HIT) infrastructure including providing payment and other incentives to physicians to help offset the costs associated with such technologies.
Funding
- ACP Offers Recommendations to Strengthen S. 1693, the "Wired for Health Care Quality Act of 2007"
; Letter To: Senator Edward Kennedy, Chairman, and Senator Michael Enzi, Ranking Member of the Senate Health Education Labor & Pensions Committee
(09-Nov-07) - ACP Comments on the "Wired for Health Care Quality Act" (S. 1693). Letter To: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee Chairman Kennedy, Ranking Member Enzi, Senator Clinton, and Senator Hatch (29-June-07)
- Testimony of the American College of Physicians to the House Committee on Small Business, Subcommitee on Regulations, Healthcare and Trade on "The Value of Health IT to Solo and Small Medical Practices" (28-Mar-07) [Press Release]
- Summary of CMS/OIG Final Rules for Donating Health Information Technology
- ACP Supports the President's Request of $169 Million for Health Information Technology in His Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Request; Letter To: Sign-On Letter to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations The Honorable Jerry Lewis, Chairman and The Honorable David Obey, Ranking Member (12-Jun-06)
- ACP's Written Statement for the July 27, 2005 Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Health Information Technology (27-July-05)
- ACP Expresses Gratitude for a Hearing on Federal Involvement in Speeding the Adoption of Health Information Technology; Letter To: U.S. Senators Judd Gregg and Kent Conrad of the Senate Budget Committee (20-July-05)
- ACP Requests Senate to Introduce Similar or Companion Legislation to the Bipartisan H.R. 747; Letter To: U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (11-July-05)
- ACP Supports Provisions in Health Information Technology Bill Introduced in the Senate on a Bi-partisan Basis. Letter To: U.S. Senators Michael B. Enzi and Edward M. Kennedy, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (30-June-05)
- ACP Supports the "Health Information Technology Act of 2005"; Letter To: U.S. Senators Debbie A. Stabenow and Olympia J. Snowe (06-Jun-05)
- ACP Urges Support for a Number of Provisions of the 21st Century Health Information Act of 2005, H.R. 2234; Letter To: Sign-On Letter to Representatives Timothy Murphy and Patrick Kennedy, Sponsors of the Bill (11-May-05)
Interoperability
- Joint Letter Urging Differences To Be Resolved in HR 4157 and S 1418 and To Submit A Unified Bill Before Congress Adjourns; Letter To: House and Senate Conferees on Health Information Technology (11-Oct-06)
- ACP Statements on Electronic Health Information Exchange (Approved October 2006)
- ACP Urges Passage of H.R. 4157, the "Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2006" Letter to the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives (26-Jul-06)
- ACP Offers Support and Assistance to the Department of Health and Human Services in Improving Interoperability of Health Information Technology; Letter To: Sign On Letter from Organizations Representing Primary Care Physicians to Secretary Michael O. Leavitt, DHHS (05-July-05)
- ACP Congratulates Senate Majority Leader Frist and Senator Clinton on the Introduction of Legislation Encouraging the Adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT); Letter To: U.S. Senators Bill Frist and Hillary Clinton (15-Jun-05)
- ACP Recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services Regarding the Establishment of a National Health Information Network (14-Jan-05)
- Enhancing the Quality of Patient Care Through Interoperable Exchange of Electronic Healthcare Information (April 2004)
E-Prescribing
- ACP Comments on Proposed Standards for E-Prescribing under Medicare Part D: Letter to CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems (January 14, 2008)
- ACP Expresses Concerns About E-Prescribing Legislation; Letter To: Senators Kerry and Ensign
(10-Dec-07)
- Updated ACP Policy on E-Prescribing (6-Nov-07)
- Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances. The ACP's Response to the DEA Call For Public Comments. Docket No. DEA-218N; Letter To : To Whom It May Concern (26-Jun-06)
- Medicare Program; Physicians' Referrals to Health Care Entities With Which They Have Financial Relationships; Exceptions for Certain Electronic Prescribing and Electronic Health Records Arrangements , 42 CFR Part 411, CMS-1303-P,(October 11, 2005) Letter To : CMS Administrator, Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD, FACP (12-Dec-05)
- Medicare and State Health Care Programs: Fraud and Abuse; Safe Harbor for Certain Electronic Prescribing Arrangements Under the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 CFR Part 1001 RIN 0991-AB36 (October 11, 2005) Letter To : HHS Inspector General, Daniel R. Levinson (12-Dec-05)
- Comments on the Medicare Program: E-Prescribing and the Prescription Drug Program Proposed Rule (42 CFR 423) Letter To: Mark McClellan, CMS Administrator (4-01-05)
- ACP Makes Recommendations to Congress on E-prescribing, Statement for the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Hearing on Electronic Prescribing (22-July-04)
- ACP Testimony on Electronic Prescribing Standards to the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics Subcommittee on Standards and Security (May 2004)
ICD-10
- ACP Expresses Concern About ICD-10 Study Contract; Letter To: Kerry Weems, Acting Administrator, CMS
(28-Nov-2007)
- Joint Letter Urging The Rejection of the ICD-10 Provision; Letter To: Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; House Energy and Commerce Committee; House Ways and Means Committee (22-Sept-06)
- Joint Letter Urging Specific Exceptions to Fraud and Abuse Laws for Donation of Health Information Technology; Letter To: The Honorable Joe Barton, Chairman, Energy and Commerce Committee, U.S. House of Representatives (19-Sept-06)
- ACP Urges the Resistance of Any Legislative Mandate for Conversion to ICD-10; Letter To : The Honorable Joe Barton, Chairman, U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce and The Honorable Nathan Deal, Chairman, U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee (26-Jun-06)
- ACP Advocates Against Implementation of ICD-10 Diagnosis Coding; Letter To: CMS Acting Administrator Leslie V. Norwalk, Esq. (29-Jan-07)
Additional Issues under HIT
- Personal Health Records Policy Statements Adopted by the American College of Physicians, March 2006
- HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Standards for Electronic Health Care Claims Attachments; Proposed Rule, 45 CFR Part 162, CMS-0050-P, (September 23, 2005) Letter To : ACP Comment Letter to CMS, Office of the Secretary (10-Jan-06)
- ACP Supports CMS Request for Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program Funding. Letter To: HHS Secretary Thompson (22-Nov-04)
- ACP Comments to CMS on Draft Proposed Quality Improvement Organization Program's 8th Statement of Work (20-Sept-04)
- Statement of the ACP on Health Information Technology: Improving Quality and Value of Patient Care to the House Committee On Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health (22-Jul-04)
- ACP Makes Recommendations to Congress on Incentives to Promote Health Information Technology, Statement for the Record of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Hearing on Health Care Information Technology (17-july-04)
- ACP Recommendations to CMS on Implementing its Doctors' Office Quality-Information Technology Demonstration Program (7-July-04)
- The Paperless Medical Office: Digital Technology's Potential for the Internist (March 2004)
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Policy Highlights
Establishing Federal Guidelines Protecting Against Genetic Discrimination - March 2008
Achieving a High Performance Health Care System with Universal Access: What the USA Can Learn from Other Countries, at www.annals.org. December, 2007
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