Health Information Technology Legislation to be Introduced in 2009

November 7, 2008 - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has indicated that legislation to encourage widespread adoption of health information technology (IT) will likely be on the Democrats’ legislative agenda in early 2009. According to reports from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a top adviser to Pelosi recently called health IT “a prerequisite, a foundation, upon which our health care system be built,” and expressed a goal to make sure "every physician's office is wired as soon as possible."

Health IT has been a topic of considerable interest over the last year, both on Capitol Hill and within the executive branch. Widespread adoption of health IT also features prominently in President-Elect Barack Obama’s plan for systemic health care reform, and both presidential campaigns mentioned it as a potential cost-saving device. Several bills that aim to encourage health IT have been introduced over the past year, all of which take different approaches to achieving widespread adoption of new technologies. Recent legislation introduced by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) would impose penalties on providers that do not make progress in integrating health IT into their services. This contrasts with more “carrot” dominated approaches that were introduced earlier in both the House and Senate.

ASH will continue to monitor this issue closely and will keep its membership abreast of any developments.