Brad Thompson: CDS Legislation Could Create Confusion

On Thursday, lawmakers with the House Energy & Commerce Committee and health IT stakeholders convened on the Hill to once again discuss the role of health information technology in improving patient care. Among the topics of conversation was the future of clinical decision support and whether such technology needs to be legislated, or if anticipated guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration--due out by the end of September--will suffice from a regulatory standpoint.

Brad Thompson, a health attorney with Epstein Becker Green who represents five groups on the matter--including the CDS Coalition, the CDS Consortium, the Continua Health Alliance, the mHealth Regulatory Coalition and the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance--earlier this month called for less regulation of CDS tools in comments submitted about the FDA's health IT risk-based regulatory framework. A distinction between man and machine, he said, must be made when assessing such risk.

In an exclusive interview with FierceHealthIT, Thompson elaborates on his position and what legislation for CDS could mean...