February 13, 2009

Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) was included in the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. The HITECH provisions will encourage the development of standards for the electronic exchange and use of health information. Funding is provided to strengthen the health information technology infrastructure through training and sharing of best practices. Incentives and grants are expected to encourage providers to adopt health information technology. Privacy provisions in the legislation will strengthen privacy protection of electronic health information, prohibit sale of patient medical information with out permission of the patient, and prohibit the use of patient medical information for marketing unless the patient grants permission for that use. As a result of this bill, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that approximately 90% of physicians and 70% of hospitals will be using comprehensive electronic health records by 2014.