[Med-privacy] Federal healthcare IT funding

[peter marshall]

Federal healthcare IT funding cut short
Healthcare IT News
By  Diana Manos, Senior Editor
	
12/21/07

WASHINGTON - Federal efforts to advance healthcare IT will have to be 
made on half the amount President Bush hoped to get for next year.

In a heated 11th-hour compromise to create a funding package amenable 
to the president, healthcare IT came out short.
Congress approved Wednesday $61.3 million of the president's requested 
$118 million for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health 
Information Technology.

The FY08 Omnibus bill did not include a requirement for doctors 
participating in Medicare to use electronic health records, a request 
made by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt earlier 
this month.

The president's original budget plan called for $22 million in 
healthcare IT funding be used for the federal advisory panel, the 
American Health Information Community (AHIC), responsible for 
encouraging healthcare IT adoption in four breakthrough areas, 
including the advancement of electronic health records, consumer 
empowerment, chronic care management and biosurveillance.

ONC funding is also needed to establish a "Partnership for Health and 
Care Improvement" as a successor to AHIC, to carry on healthcare IT 
advancement into the next administration, HHS said.

Leavitt announced in October that HHS plans soon to launch a widespread 
demonstration project rewarding doctors to adopt electronic health 
records. HHS will recruit 1,200 doctors from 12 communities across the 
United States - affecting some 3.6 million patients - to participate in 
a five-year pilot. HHS has not yet announced details on how to apply 
for the demo, nor how much the incentive will be.