FEDERALhearing transcript

Senate Hearing on Improving Patient Access to Electronic Health Records

Original title: ACHIEVING THE PROMISE OF HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: IMPROVING CARE THROUGH PATIENT ACCESS TO THEIR RECORDS

January 1, 2017

health information technology electronic health records patient data access healthcare policy HITECH Act

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The Frame

What this does

The hearing explores potential legislative and administrative changes to the and '' standards, which dictate how healthcare providers manage and share patient data.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Patients

Patients are the primary subjects of health record data and are affected by the ease or difficulty of accessing their own medical information.

Healthcare Providers

Physicians, hospitals, and clinics are subject to federal standards regarding the implementation and use of electronic health record systems.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2017.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

This Senate committee hearing examined the challenges patients and providers face in accessing and sharing electronic health records. Senators and expert witnesses discussed how to improve health information technology to better support patient care and medical research.

Key Facts

The hearing was the fifth in a series regarding health information technology.
The committee is investigating why electronic health record systems often fail to exchange information effectively.
The committee is reviewing the 'meaningful use' standards due to concerns regarding the administrative burden they place on providers.
Data from 2013 indicates only 28 percent of Americans were offered access to online medical records.
Of those offered access in 2013, 54 percent did not access their records, and 21 percent viewed them only once or twice.
The committee established a Health IT Working Group to identify improvements for information exchange.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main goal of this hearing?

The committee is seeking expert advice on how to improve electronic health record systems to better serve patients and facilitate the sharing of health information.

What are 'meaningful use' standards?

These are federal standards that healthcare providers must meet to qualify for incentive payments related to the use of electronic health records.

Why It Matters

The hearing explores potential legislative and administrative changes to the and '' standards, which dictate how healthcare providers manage and share patient data.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Focus on Patient-Centric Data

The committee shifted its focus from provider-centric meaningful use standards to patient-centric access to health records.

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Connected Entities

personSusan Collins“U.S. Senator from Maine, presiding over the hearing.”Map →

personElizabeth Warren“U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, serving as Ranking Member for the hearing.”Map →

personRaj Ratwani“Scientific Director, National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare.”Map →

personLamar Alexander“Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.”Map →

personEric Dishman“Intel Fellow, General Manager for Health and Life Sciences at Intel Corporation.”Map →

personKathy Giusti“Founder and Executive Chairman, Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance60
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy20
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz15
Current news / social attention level

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