Lawmakers Call For 'Reboot' Of Meaningful Use Program

Marla Durban Hirsch | FierceEMR | April 16, 2013

Six Republican Senators have formally requested that U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius provide a written plan to address how the agency is implementing the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.

In an April 16 letter--signed by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and John Thune (R-S.D.)--they state that Congress has an obligation to conduct oversight of government programs. To that end, they released a 28-page white paper entitled "REBOOT: Re-Examining the Strategies Needed to Successfully Adopt Health IT" that outlines their concerns with current health IT policy, including the costs, interoperability, the potential for waste and abuse, patient privacy and sustainability.