Alexander Statement on HHS Proposed Rule to Improve Electronic Health Records
NASHVILLE, April 20, 2019— Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on a new draft of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule that will improve the exchange of information across health networks:
“This proposed rule is an important step toward making it as easy for patients to get their medical records as it is to book an airline flight — and to reduce administrative burdens that are driving doctors away from the practice of medicine. The proposal implements reforms in the 21st Century Cures Act, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the most important new law of the 114th Congress.”
HHS today announced the second draft of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). It was also announced today that HHS will extend the comment period for its interoperability and information blocking rules.
In 2015, the Senate health committee held six hearings to explore ways to get our nation’s system of health information technology out of a ditch and make it useful for doctors and patients. The committee then authored the 21st Century Cures Act which directed HHS to make proposals to improve electronic health records access and exchange. On March 26, 2019, the committee held a hearing on the implementation of some of these electronic health information provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act.
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