Electronic Medical Record Legislation to be Introduced in House of Representatives

September 11, 2008 – Pete Stark (D-CA), chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, plans to introduce a new bill that would encourage health-care providers to move to a system of electronic medical records (EMRs). While details of the bill are not yet available, reports indicate that Stark's bill will differ from those currently under consideration in the House (H.R. 6357) and Senate (S. 1693) in that it will impose penalties on providers that refuse to adopt electronic records. Current proposals provide only positive incentives to encourage EMR adoption.

It remains unclear how this bill will address other issues, such as privacy concerns and details on incentives/disincentives offered, that have stalled other electronic medical record legislation in the past. With only about four weeks left in the congressional session it is not likely that action will be taken on electronic medical record legislation this year, but ASH will continue to monitor this issue.