Senate Wants U.S. to Get Wired for Health

Washington

In the future, gathering patient medical records could be as simple as swiping a card with technology being encouraged in a bill unanimously passed by the Senate.

The Wired for Health Care Quality Act brings Americans closer to being able to carry a card or identification tag that contains all of their patient data, insurance and medical history records wherever they go, said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., one of the bill’s sponsors.

“If we can wave a wand and buy gas at the pump, then we should be able to utilize the newest technology on something even more important like allowing patients to transfer information between hospitals and doctors’ offices in seconds, without complicated, wasteful paper records,” said Enzi, who is chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Supporters also say the bipartisan bill, designed to encourage the widespread adoption of information technology in health care, will improve patient care, reduce medical errors and save money.

The legislation is a compromise between previous bills coming from both sides of the floor, including from high-profile Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

To view the text of the bill, also known as S.1418, visit http://thomas.loc.gov.