On Wednesday, the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation approved a bill designed to strengthen and streamline the federal government's oversight of the country's electronic infrastructure, including health IT systems, CongressDaily reports.
The bill was passed on a voice vote with no opposition (Povich, CongressDaily, 11/5).
The Cybersecurity Coordination and Awareness Act would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop and implement a plan to coordinate the development of cybersecurity technical standards. NIST also would be tasked with conducting research and development to improve identity management systems and creating a cybersecurity awareness and education program.
The subcommittee approved an amendment introduced by subcommittee Chair David Wu (D-Ore.) that would include health IT systems as part of NIST's work on identity management research and standards development.
Wu said, "As we work to increase adoption of health IT in our medical system, it is important to recognize that the increased digitization and sharing of records must be accompanied by adequate privacy safeguards."
The bill now moves to the House Science and Technology Committee (Mark, eWeek, 11/5).