U.S. House of Representatives Gives ONCHIT the Okay
H.R. 4157: Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2006
By Sean McPhillips, CPHIMS, FHIMSS
This past July, significant progress was made in the advancement of health information technology at the Federal level. On July 27th, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 4157: The Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2006. This is a major victory for the field of health information technology and is a direct result of HIMSS Advocacy Day in June 2006, where hundreds of HIMSS members visited Capital Hill to meet with members of both the House and Senate to urge the passage of this legislation.
In brief summary, the Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2006 provides the following under Federal law:
• Title I – Coordination for, Planning for, and Interoperability of Health Information Technology: This section focuses on the permanent creation of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) to be headed by a National Coordinator for HIT. This bill defined the responsibilities and duties of the National Coordinator as a department under Health and Human Services (HHS). Additionally, this section outlines new responsibilities for both the HHS as well as the President.
• Title II – Transaction Standards, Codes, and Information: The most significant section of Title II is the replacement of ICD-9-CM and ICD-9-PCS with ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS respectively, to take affect October 1, 2010.
• Title III – Promoting the Use of Health Information Technology to Better Coordinate Health Care: The most important part of this section is an exemption to the “anti-kickback” laws that prohibit hospitals from giving anything of value to physician or a physician’s office in order to encourage the doctor to refer his/her patients to that hospital. This is critical to the success of establishing data-sharing partnerships between hospitals and physician practices, which will ultimately improve the overall quality and continuity of care.
• Title IV – Additional Provisions: This section provides additional direction to the HHS for the federalization of this initiative. This includes, but not limited to, establishing state reciprocity agreements, interstate telehealth initiatives, uniform pricing for inpatient and outpatient services.
Now, H.R. 4157 awaits Senate approval as it has be placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 587. With a little luck, the Senate will vote on it and pass it by the close of this Congressional Session.
In short, it directs ONCHIT, HHS, and the President to take a much more comprehensive and strategic approach for the national management and standardization of health information by leveraging the advantages of established standards and proven technologies. If you are interested in reading H.R. 4157: The Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2006 in its entirety, a copy of it can be found in the Resource Library of our chapter website.
Legislative Action
House Panel Passes Health IT Measure
Congress Daily AM Publication
The House Government Reform Federal Workforce Subcommittee passed legislation Wednesday, September 13th, that would require insurance carriers covering federal employees and their families to create electronic health records for them.
The bill, passed by voice vote, requires the federal government's Office of Personnel Management to require insurance carriers to provide members of the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program with two types of electronic health records.
The first record would contain information already tracked by carriers, such as hospital and physician visits, claims information and prescription drug records. The bill would require that the information be made available to program members within four years of the bill's enactment.
The bill also requires that carriers make personal electronic health records available to members. These records, which would contain personal health information such as medical history, symptoms and diet, are to be controlled by the members.
The bill stipulates that carriers must comply with privacy regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 in handling the electronic records.
Federal Workforce Subcommittee Chairman Jon Porter, R-Nev., who co-sponsored the legislation with Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., said the bill would empower federal workers to have ownership of their medical records.
Government Reform ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., released a statement opposing the bill. He recommended legislation wait until an HHS task force on interoperability standards finishes its work. Waxman also called for additional privacy provisions.
Fall Conference 2006
Improving Healthcare Business Processes:
Device Integration Best Practices
This comming October 25th, the CSOHIMSS Chapter will hold our semi-annual regional conference in Columbus, Ohio. The theme of this conference will be Improving Healthcare Business Processes: Device Integration Best Practices.
With one keynote and four speakers, the CSOHIMSS Fall Conference 2006 is exptect to be another great success for our chapter’s continuing education initiatives. To register or find out the latest information on the CSOHIMSS Fall Conference 2006, please refer to our Calendar of Events.
Copies of the presentations will be available for download in the Resource Library of the CSOHIMSS Website. Additionally, the handouts of presentations from previous conferences as well as past Chapter Newsletters can also be found in the Resource Library. In addition, the CSOHIMSS website always tries to obtain and make available presentation from any event the chapter is associated with so that those who were unable to attend can still benefit from the information presented. If you have trouble downloading a desired document, feel free to contact us at contactus@csohimss.org for assistance.
For those of you who are interested in learning more about what’s going on at our neighboring chapters, visit their websites at: http://www.bluegrasshimss.org, http://www.indianahimss.org , & http://www.nohimss.org or you can get involved more with our own chapter.
CSOHIMSS Announcement: New Board Position
Chapter Board for Fiscal Year 2006-2007
Do you want to be on the CSOHIMSS Chapter Board?
The CSOHIMSS Chapter Board is proud to announce the creation of a new board position. We are calling on all CSOHIMSS Chapter members who may be interested in serving on the Board for the 2006-2007 Fiscal Year.
• Public Relationship Chairperson
Details about this position have yet to be defined as it has not yet been added to the Chapter ByLaws. This means....you can help create the details and responsibilities of this position!
Additionally, all CSOHIMSS Board Positions come with the benefit of one year National HIMSS dues paid, as a thank you for the volunteer commitment and service to the Chapter.
If you are interested, please submit your name for consideration to contactus@csohimss.org as soon as possible. Since the position is currently not an elected position, the Board will appoint this position at our discretion. So, hurry up and submit your name soon! Current Board members are always listed on the Left Panel of the most recent Newsletter as well as on the Chapter Website at: www.csohimss.org.
All Board positions come with seat on the Board of Directors for the chapter and will carry with them either a one year or two year term. FYI, if you are ever interested in becoming a chapter President, serving on the Board for a minimum of one year is a prerequisite. Also, get plugged into what is going on at the chapter level and have an influential voice in what activities and conferences our chapter sponsors.
If you are interested in becoming more involved in chapter activities or if you are interested in volunteering in any other capacity, please contact Chapter President Debbie Murphy, at contactus@csohimss.org.
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The CSOHIMSS Chapter is offering our annual Jane A. Blank Distinguished Member Scholarship Award in the amount of $1,000.00 scholarship along with a one-year HIMSS membership ($30.00 value) to an undergraduate or graduate student studying in the healthcare information or healthcare management systems field.
Scholarships are awarded for academic excellence and the potential for future leadership in the healthcare information and management systems industry. Review criteria are focused on academic achievement, service activities, technical skills, career goals, demonstration of leadership potential, and communication skills. The $1,000.00 scholarship (cash award) and one year HIMSS membership is awarded to the student deemed most deserving by the CSOHIMSS Scholarship Committee.
If you are interested in applying for this scholarship, download the Scholarship Application or visit our web site at www.csohimss.org for more information. Application submission deadline is January 6, 2007. Good luck!
Annette Elchert is the Account Executive/CIO, for CareTech Solutions Inc. on the campus of Blanchard Valley Health Association, which is outsourced IS management and support.
Annette has over 26 years experience in healthcare IT at the management level. Currently, her main involvement is with strategic planning, project management, implementation and support of healthcare applications.
Beginning July 1, 2006, Annette became the newest member of the CSOHIMSS Chapter Board as the Sponsorship Chairperson. Her reason for CSOHIMSS involvement is to expand her networking with other Ohio health systems to share best practices and clinical information systems experiences.
The CSOHIMSS Chapter website is currently undergoing a major overhaul to be more consistent with other chapter websites. Furthermore, there will a number of new features and enhancements available on the website. Stay tuned for the announcement when the new website becomes available. The CSOHIMSS Chapter expects to unveil the new website at our 2006 Fall Conference on October 25th.
President: Debbie Murphy
VP & Treasurer: Richard Manley
Past President: William Mitchin
Secretary: Joanne Garcia White
Program Chairperson: Marc Beasley
Communications Chairperson: Sean McPhillips
Scholarship Chairperson: Russ Hessler
Membership Chairperson: Stephen Beck
Sponsorship Chairperson: Annette Elchert
Government Advocacy Chairperson: Stephen Wood
Public Relations Chairperson: Vacant
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