Three Republican senators have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the health information exchanges funded by the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT, according to a report in Politico.
Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), new chairman of the Health Education Labor and Pension Committee, along with committee members Richard Burr (N.C.) and Mike Enzi (Wyo.), have expressed concern about HIEs, which have been struggling with sustainability issues despite having received almost $600 million in grant money from ONC.
A number of HIEs have run into legal and financial trouble, with Connecticut's HIE the most recent to shut down. In addition, a recent RAND report found that HIEs are still "experiments," and that it is not yet known whether they can deliver the interoperability they're intended to provide. Article (subscription required)