The House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee has approved H.R. 4157, the Health Information Technology (IT) Promotion Act of 2006.

The bill will now go to a conference committee where differences between it and a Senate HIT bill introduced last year will be worked out. Following that, each chamber will vote on the reconciled bill.

H.R. 4157 would do the following:

• ONCHIT — codifies the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (IT) and delineates its responsibilities to coordinate federal HIT efforts.
• Stark/Anti-Kickback Safe Harbors — Allows entities, including hospitals and group practices, to provide physicians with hardware, software, or related services used for the electronic exchange of clinical health information.
• Uniform Privacy/Security Standards — Requires the Secretary of HHS to conduct a study on the impact of variation between state security and confidentiality laws and federal security and confidentiality standards.
• Adoption of Modern Coding System — Requires the Secretary to adopt updated claims transaction standards and a new diagnosis coding system.
• Updating of Standards — Requires the Secretary to adopt or reject proposed modifications or additions to existing standards within 90 days if the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) recommends the change.
• Report on the American Health Information Community — Requires the Secretary of HHS to report back in one year on the activities of the public-private American Health Information Community (AHIC) recently chartered by the Secretary, with recommendations for the ongoing structure and responsibilities of the entity.
• Strategic Plan for Coordinating Implementation of Health Information Technology — Requires the development of a strategic federal plan to coordinate implementation efforts for HIT standards, transaction standards, and new coding systems.
• Promotion of Telehealth Services — Requires the Secretary of HHS to take steps that expedite the provision of telehealth services across state lines by taking a closer look at state licensure issues.