Congress questions ONC's authority over HIT
A Congressional committee is questioning the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's (ONC's) authority over the regulation of health IT.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSC, challenging the ONC for overstepping its statutory authority.
The letter was signed by full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-Penn.), full committee Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.). The group's letter questions the proposed risk-based regulatory framework for health IT released April 3 by the FDA, Federal Trade Commission and ONC.
The legislators object to the report's draft recommendation to create a Health IT Safety Center, which aims to use both public and private resources to ensure minimal risk from health IT and patient safety. "The ONC 2014 budget suggests it will impose a new user fee on health IT vendors and developers to support ONC's certification and standardization activities," the letter reads. "However, it is not clear to us under what statutory authority ONC is now pursuing these enhanced regulatory activities, including the levying of new user fees, on health IT."
The letter also requests answers to several questions including when the authorization for the Medicare and Medicaid Incentive program expires and under what statutory authority does ONC believe it is able to regulate health IT and EHRs, particularly in (but not limited to) Meaningful Use areas.
Read the complete letter.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.