While the U.S. Congress failed to pass national health information technology legislation last year, the issue (which many cite as falling outside of traditional party lines) is likely to be considered yet again this year. Along with the Democratic sweep in Congress, many in the industry are expecting an accompanying shift in Federal health IT legislation. "Democrats will certainly re-address the issue, and in fact, there's already been talk among staffers about putting together a new broad-based [health IT] bill," said David Merritt, project director for the Center for Health Transformation. "But it is for certain that their priorities will differ somewhat." One of the areas that's expected to see legislation is patient privacy--an issue that the previous session of Congress failed to address.
For more on the shift in health IT legislation:
- see this article from Government Health IT