Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.) said recently that he plans to introduce legislation to mandate the creation of an electronic health record (EHR) for every person covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program.
Porter, who heads the House Government Reform Committees Federal Workforce and Agency Organization Subcommittee, said the program would become “the largest [health information technology] demonstration project in the country.” The program covers about 4 million current and retired federal employees.
Under his bill, each person covered would get a wallet-size EHR identification card within five years of the laws enactment.
Speaking at a committee hearing on health IT, Porter said the bill would phase in the EHR requirement, beginning with records of claims paid by the participating insurance companies. “The other components, a personal health record and a provider-based record, will be phased in accordingly,” he said.
DesktopLinux.com
Read the full story at Government Health IT.
Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, views and analysis of technologys impact on health care.