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Read. Follow. Verify.Senate Hearing on Electronic Health Record Sharing
Record date · January 1, 2021
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What This Bill Does
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing to discuss the implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act. The focus was on improving the ability of different electronic health record systems to communicate with each other so patients and doctors can easily access health information.
The hearing addresses the ongoing challenge of '' and high costs associated with sharing medical records between different healthcare providers, which impacts how quickly and accurately patients receive care.
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Patients
Patients are affected by the ease or difficulty with which their medical history can be shared between different healthcare providers.
Healthcare Providers
Providers face administrative and financial burdens when attempting to transfer patient records between incompatible electronic systems.
Electronic Health Record Vendors
Vendors are subject to federal regulations regarding data interoperability and information blocking.
Key Facts
- The hearing examined the implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act regarding electronic health information sharing.
- The federal government has spent over $36 billion on the Meaningful Use Program since 2009 to incentivize electronic health record adoption.
- Many healthcare providers face high costs and technical barriers when trying to share patient data between different electronic record systems.
- The committee heard testimony from experts representing health technology, medical informatics, and health policy organizations.
Show all 6 facts
- The hearing addressed the issue of 'information blocking' where systems are intentionally or technically prevented from communicating.
- The committee reviewed supplemental materials regarding digital health data, healthcare competition, and proposed rules on information blocking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't my doctor see my records from another hospital?
What is the 21st Century Cures Act trying to fix?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceFull breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift from Adoption to Interoperability
Federal policy has moved from incentivizing the initial adoption of electronic records to mandating that those systems actually communicate with one another.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.govinfo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance80How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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