Murray Pushes for Continued Progress on Health Technology to Empower Patients and Providers
At HELP Committee Hearing, Senator Murray outlines key obstacles patients and providers face when accessing electronic health records
Following Congress’ passage of the HITECH Act in 2009, use of electronic health records has become widespread, leading to better quality of care
Citing remaining challenges, Murray stressed the importance of requiring health IT vendors to place patients over profit by ending information blocking and “gag clauses” that prevent providers from speaking out about issues with health IT systems
Murray: “Families’ lives depend on making sure we get this right.”
***Watch Senator Murray’s full speech HERE***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered opening remarks at the Committee’s latest hearing on improving patient and provider access to electronic health records. In her remarks, Senator Murray noted the progress providers have made so far in adopting electronic health records, as well as the effects of their widespread use on quality of care for patients. She also outlined the importance of continuing the work Congress did in the 21st Century Cures Act to promote interoperability and end information blocking and “gag clauses” that can impede important and lifesaving improvements to electronic health systems. Senator Murray also emphasized the need to make sure health care technology is user-friendly and the importance of addressing issues related to cybersecurity, privacy, and data stewardship.
The hearing was the second in a series of two which were focused on providing oversight of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) efforts to implement steps Congress passed in the 21st Century Cures Act to improve the usability and interoperability of electronic health records and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid’s work on similar issues.
Key excerpts of Senator Murray’s opening statement:
“In the decade since Congress passed the HITECH Act to help spur better use of health care technology, we’ve made tremendous progress. Back in 2008, just one in twenty hospitals used electronic health records. Today we’ve seen that statistic flip entirely—just one in twenty hospitals haven’t adopted electronic health records.”
“We can’t afford to have bad actors who prioritize their bottom line over patients’ best interests, who block information that is essential to patient care, and who prevent people from speaking out when they see something that could jeopardize someone’s health. Because when systems can’t speak with each other, and people can’t speak up about the problems they see, it’s patients who get hurt.”
“The new conditions also call for open application programming interfaces—APIs—another step that will help make sure systems developed by different vendors and used by different doctors are able to speak to each other, and that patients have an easier time getting access to their medical records.”
“Patients should be able to expect tech companies are going to use their most sensitive information responsibly, and give them the tools they need to be able to control how and when their information is disclosed.”
Watch Senator Murray’s full opening statement HERE.
Full text below of Sen. Murray’s opening statement:
“Thank you Mr. Chairman.
“In the decade since Congress passed the HITECH Act to help spur better use of health care technology, we’ve made tremendous progress.
“Back in 2008, just one in twenty hospitals used electronic health records.
“Today we’ve seen that statistic flip entirely—just one in twenty hospitals haven’t adopted electronic health records.
“We saw the impact of that shift nationally when electronic health records played an important role in understanding how the water in Flint, Michigan was putting families in danger.
“And health care providers have seen the impact of that shift in their work as electronic health records have helped them identify health problems sooner so patients can get preventive care to stay healthy, avoid duplicative tests or medication errors, and identify treatments that might be counter-productive based on a patients’ medical history or current prescriptions.
“But for all the promise of electronic health records, we’ve also seen the serious danger to patients when health IT systems fail to live up to high standards of quality.
“From the man in California, who suffered brain damage after his diagnosis was delayed when a hospital’s software couldn’t properly interface with a lab’s, to the woman in Vermont, who died of a brain aneurysm that might have been caught if a software problem hadn’t stopped the order for a test she needed.
“Families’ lives depend on making sure we get this right.
“Which is why I was glad Congress—and this Committee, in particular—was able to take action in the 21st Century Cures Act to address some of the biggest challenges we face, and why I’m so eager to hear from our witnesses today about how the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is implementing the steps we passed.
“While HITECH required certified electronic health record products to meet technical standards intended to make good information more accessible for care providers, a 2015 ONC report detailed how, instead of making information easy to access and share, many organizations engaged in ‘information blocking’—intentionally setting up barriers between their systems and other systems, like exorbitant fees whenever someone sent, received, or even searched for a patient’s information, contracts that restricted people’s ability to access and share their own health information, and systems built in ways that made sharing information needlessly complicated.
“We’ve also seen how too many health IT vendors include ‘gag clauses’ to stop care providers from speaking out about the problems, issues, and errors they encounter.
“We can’t afford to have bad actors who prioritize their bottom line over patients’ best interests, who block information that is essential to patient care, and who prevent people from speaking out when they see something that could jeopardize someone’s health.
“Because when systems can’t speak with each other, and people can’t speak up about the problems they see, it’s patients who get hurt.
“That’s why in the 21st Century Cures Act Congress moved to end ‘information blocking’ and make clear that when patients and their care providers need information—they shouldn’t be stopped by unnecessary, unreasonable barriers.
“We then tasked ONC with clarifying what concerns—like privacy, safety, and security—would be grounds for reasonable exceptions.
“We also took steps to help ONC strengthen its certification program, so they can require vendors seeking the government’s seal of approval to swear off information blocking and ‘gag clauses.’
“The new conditions also call for open application programming interfaces—APIs—another step that will help make sure systems developed by different vendors and used by different doctors are able to speak to each other, and that patients have an easier time getting access to their medical records.
“These are important steps, and I’m looking forward to hearing today about how ONC is working to carry them out.
“And I’m also eager to hear about how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is working on a parallel track to make claims data more accessible, and prompt care providers to be better about sharing information.
“And I hope during today’s hearing we can also focus on how to make sure health information technology doesn’t just work for providers—but for patients.
“That means tackling patient engagement and usability, so that patients looking for clear information about their health can find more than massive binders, unreadable PDFs, and stacks of CDs.
“We also need to make sure we are discussing what is required for all parties to be good stewards of the data people entrust them with, and supporting the development of technology and best practices to keep people’s personal information private and secure.
“This is only going to become more important as tech companies and others introduce new products, like mobile applications, that empower people with their health care data—but are not covered by existing HIPAA protections.
“Patients should be able to expect tech companies are going to use their most sensitive information responsibly, and give them the tools they need to be able to control how and when their information is disclosed.
“Our objective should be to make sure tech companies are putting patients in the driver’s seat, not the other way around.
“So I hope our witnesses will be able to speak to the importance of that as well, and I look forward to continuing our bipartisan work to help make sure health technology is informing and empowering patients and providers in ways that lead to better care and help people live happier, healthier lives.
“Thank you.”
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