Rep. Darell Issa (R-Calif.) has introduced the Wired for Health Care Quality Act (HR 4642), which the Senate passed with bipartisan support in November, Government Health IT reports.
The bill would establish the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and provide legislative support for many of its current activities. The bill would require HHS to publicize health IT standards and would require all federal health IT purchases to meet those standards, Government Health IT reports.
In addition, the bill would authorize grants and loans to support health care providers' health IT adoption. The bill would require the development of health care quality measures and would require the reporting of providers receiving federal funds. It also would require privacy protections for online health information and mandate the notification of patients if an organization wrongfully releases their medical information.
The bill, which does not yet have co-sponsors, was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee shortly before the House recessed for the holidays (Ferris, Government Health IT, 1/5).