Health IT legislation
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
"Wired for Health Care Quality Act" (S 1418), marked up by the Senate Health Committee July 20, includes provisions to establish an Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology and the American Health Information Collaboration - a forum for public and private sector stakeholders to make recommendations to CMS on achieving a nationwide interoperable health IT infrastructure. The legislation also authorizes CMS to award competitive grants to facilitate adoption of health IT and directs the agency to conceive a "quality measurement system." The bill is a compromise version of the "Better Healthcare Through Information Technology Act" and the "Health Technology to Enhance Quality Act," both introduced in June (1"The Gray Sheet" July 18, 2005, p. 15)...