House committee advances EHR bill

Last week, the House's Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization passed bill HR 4859 (HR 4859) that would allow the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to mandate that health insurers establish two forms of electronic health records (EHRs) for the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.

Under the bill, the first EHRs would include information already tracked by health insurers--such as hospital and physician visits, claims information and prescription drug records--and FEHBP members would be able to access them within four years of passage of the legislation. The second EHR would include personal health information--such as medical history, symptoms and diet--and FEHBP members would administer them. The bill, co-sponsored by subcommittee Chair Jon Porter (R-Nev.) and Rep. William Clay (D-MO), would require health insurers to comply with medical privacy rules established under the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the administration of the EHRs.

For more on the bill:
- Get Kaiser's take at KaiserNetwork.org article

Also: We had a look at another EHR bill on the Senate side here