United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Hearing Announcement: Implementing the 21st Century Cures Act: Making Electronic Health Information Available to Patients and Providers, Part II
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
10:00 AM
430 Dirksen Senate Office Building
On Tuesday, May 7, the Senate health committee will hold a hearing on implementation of the electronic health information provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act.
In the Cures Act, Congress took steps to help improve the exchange of electronic health information. Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released two rules to define information blocking—so it is clear when one system is purposefully not sharing information with another—and to give patients more control over their records and providers more information so they can better treat their patients.
This will be the second hearing of this Congress about the proposed new rules and efforts to improve electronic health records and make health information more accessible. The hearing will feature witnesses from the Administration. At the first hearing of this Congress on the proposed rules, the Senate health committee heard from health care providers, subject matter experts, application developers, and health care industry leaders.
The Senate health committee had six hearings in 2015 to explore ways to get our nation’s system of health information technology out of a ditch and make it useful for doctors and patients. The committee then authored the 21st Century Cures Act which directed HHS to make proposals to improve electronic health records. In October 2017, the committee held its first oversight hearing on the Health IT provisions in Cures.
Witnesses:
- Don Rucker, M.D., National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, United States Department of Health and Human Services
- Kate Goodrich, M.D., Director and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Chief Medical Officer, Center for Clinical Standards and Quality, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, United States Department of Health and Human Services