House approves VA and Defense budget bill with HIT interoperability requirement

In what may be a signal of how serious legislators are about the need for health information technology (HIT) developers to advance interoperability in EHR systems at a faster pace, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense Department appropriations bill that holds back HIT funding until progress on EHR interoperability is demonstrated.

The provision was added to the bill in mid April and will require the VA and Defense departments to prove that they are close to a seamless sharing of medical records for troops and veterans before they can access the majority (75 percent) of the funds requested for EHR system upgrades.

According to The Military Times, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s Military Construction and Veterans Affairs panel, has promised to include a similar provision in the defense appropriations and defense authorization bills set for May.

“If they want their money, they’re going to have to earn it,” The Military Times quotes him as saying, meaning that the military will not its full technology request until Rep. Culbertson and other lawmakers see evidence that the problem of lack of interoperability between of Defense and VA EHR systems has been addressed.

In the private sector, lack of interoperability between EHR systems has been a frustration of many conservative lawmakers who have questioned the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s Office of the National Coordinator on why more progress has not been made considering the amount of government funds handed out so far in meaningful use incentives.

The Defense and VA spending bill was approved 416-1. It will now be considered by the Senate.