The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a modified version of the Protecting Records, Optimizing Treatment, and Easing Communication through Healthcare Technology Act of 2008 or the PRO(TECH)T Act of 2008 (H.R. 6357) by a voice vote on July 23. The legislation is intended to encourage hospitals, physicians and other health care service providers to adopt a nationwide electronic health record system through grants and loans.

The bill was recently revised to clarify measures related to patient privacy protections and uses of the medical records before going to the full Committee. The Committee slightly amended the bill to:

Require the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources (HHS) to initiate a study into the use of health information technology (HIT) for programs related to the care of elderly and disabled residents;

Require the HHS secretary to develop an informed-consent model that clarifies how a patient's health data would be used; and

Allow graduate professional schools to qualify for grants to develop pilot projects on clinical education programs that use HIT.

Click here to read details about the bill when it was introduced.

The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing the following day on “Promoting the Adoption and Use of Health Information Technology,” to discuss possible revisions to H.R. 6357 since the Committee holds joint jurisdiction over the issue. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Chairman Pete Stark (D-CA) stated he intends to introduce his own legislation to address issues that were raised in the hearing, including a provision to penalize providers who do not adopt electronic health records (EHR), just as it already contains incentives for providers to participate.

House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) has also indicated he will likely introduce his own EHRs bill that would offer tax incentives to health care providers who adopt EHRs. Representative Stark has said he would work with Representative Camp on a bill in the Ways and Means Committee.