Electronic Medical Records
Background of the EMR Debate
- · President Bush introduced a new position in the Department of Health and Human Services in order to meet the technical demands of EMRs.
- · President Bush’s 2004 State of the Union speech addressed the computerization of medical records. He said: “By computerizing health records, we can avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs and improve care.”
- In President Obama’s December 6, 2009 radio address, he stated: "We will make sure that every doctor's office and hospital in this country is using cutting-edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes and help save billions of dollars each year.”
- The Obama administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocates significant funds to the implementation of EMRs. The bill also sets forth the goal of computerizing each person’s medical records by 2014.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules – HIPAA protects information of “covered entities” and protects patients’ rights. It says that patients own the information in their medical records. It does not explicitly regulate EMRs but they are implicitly included as part of this legislation. See the Department of Health and Human Services site here:
Stop Taking our Health Privacy (STOHP) Act of 2003 – This bill aims to ensure the protection of health information that may be linked to certain individuals. It was referred to subcommittees and never passed, however.
The Patient Privacy Act of 2003 – Part of this bill aims to prevent any federal funds being used for the collection of medical information to store in a database or record system.
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – This bill allocates $19 billion to be paid to physicians who adopt or utilize EMRs in a “meaningful way.” The incentives may not exceed $40,000 to $44,000. It also states that doctors who do not switch to EMR by 2015 may face penalties.
- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/business/01unbox.html
