This report originally appeared in the January 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News.
Senator John Kerry (D-MA), a senior member of the Finance Committee, has introduced legislation to assist family physicians in utilizing health information technology (HIT). The bill would encourage the use of HIT for enhancement of communication between patients and health care providers; improvement of quality measurement by enabling the eligible professionals to collect, store, measure, and report on the outcomes of individual and population performance and quality of care; and enhancement of consumer and patient empowerment.
The Small Business Health Information Technology Financing Act of 2009, would enable qualifying doctors and small medical practices to be eligible for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans that would cover the costs of HIT used to create electronic health records and prescriptions. The loans could be up to $350,000 for a qualified eligible professional and up to $2,000,000 for a group of affiliated qualified eligible professionals. Eligible professionals would include physicians, physical or occupational therapists, state-licensed pharmacists, state-licensed suppliers of durable medical equipment, and state-licensed, state-certified or nationally accredited home health care providers.
"Electronic medical records and prescriptions are the commonsense solution to restricting costs, reducing errors, and reforming a broken system. Doctors don't need convincing - they've seen the results," Senator Kerry said in a press release on his web site. "This legislation helps small practices acquire the technology that will allow them to be more efficient and to focus on patient care."
