ACP: Governmental Affairs and Public Policy - ACP Supports Provisions in Health Information Technology Bill Introduced in the Senate on a Bi-partisan Basis

Advocacy

ACP Supports Provisions in Health Information Technology Bill Introduced in the Senate on a Bi-partisan Basis

June 30, 2005

The Honorable Michael B. Enzi
Chairman
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy
Ranking Member
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
644 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Enzi and Ranking Member Kennedy:

The American College of Physicians (ACP), representing 118,000 doctors of internal medicine and medical students, applauds you for the introduction of the “Better Healthcare through Information Technology Act of 2005.” This legislation will help move the healthcare industry toward the expansion of universally accepted health information technology (HIT) standards by providing incentives for health care providers to acquire electronic health records and other technologies.

ACP strongly believes the use of HIT will revolutionize health care by putting clinically relevant patient information and up-to-date evidence-based clinical decision support tools in the hands of providers. This will lead to a higher standard of quality in the U.S. health care system through a reduction in medical errors, improvements in patient safety, and a reduction in health care costs. Unfortunately, the costs of acquiring such technologies remain prohibitively expensive for most physician practices and, therefore, we believe Congress must provide sufficient incentives to assist health care providers to purchase the necessary technology.

There are several worthy provisions of the “Health Information Technology Quality and Improvement Act” that will move providers toward full-scale adoption of HIT. Specific provisions of importance to the College are:

Authorization of the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology;
Adoption of uniform national HIT standards;
Recognition of decision support software – similar to ACP’s Physicians' Information and Education Resource (PIER), offering real-time, evidence-based guidance to improve clinical care – as Qualified Health Information Technology;
Creation of the competitive grant program, and the recognition of financial assistance to solo and small health care providers (group practices) to purchase and install electronic health record systems and other HIT devices;
Establishment of the ‘Center for Best Practices,’ within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to offer technical assistance and develop best practices for entities adopting, implementing, and using HIT; and
Creation of a safe harbor to the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and an exception to the Self-Referral Law.

Because the up-front costs of purchasing HIT can run between $15,000 to $30,000 per physician, ACP believes it is essential Congress provide funding to assist those physicians in solo to small practices purchase the technology. While we are extremely supportive of the grant program your legislation provides to assist in these costs, we also believe it is very important for Congress to provide additional ongoing incentives, preferably through the Medicare physician reimbursement system, that recognizes the continuous costs associated with training and maintenance of a fully integrated HIT system. Because of this, we believe the matching requirement that the entity provide one-third of the cost will be prohibitively expensive for many physicians in smaller practices to participate.

Once again, ACP wishes to congratulate you on the introduction of the “Health Information Technology Quality and Improvement Act.” Providing financial incentives for the adoption and implementation of HIT, and the many other important elements of your legislation, takes a significant step toward achieving the ultimate objective of improving the quality of care for all Americans.

Sincerely,

John Tooker, MD, MBA, FACP
Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer