This spring, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) announced their aim to accomplish five items related to interoperability of electronic health records (EHRs) by the end of the year—whether through legislative means or an administrative fix. To accomplish this goal, the HELP Committee recently solicited feedback from stakeholder organizations, including the ACC.

In its comments to the Committee, the College provided recommendations related to vendor data blocking, effective EHR standards, post-certification surveillance of EHR systems, the reevaluation of HIPAA and security of data, and the delay of Meaningful Use Stage 3 in its entirety.

“The ACC applauds you and your respective staff for taking the initiative to accomplish specific goals related to interoperability of EHRs and commends you for your collaborative approach,” said ACC President Kim Allan Williams, Sr., MD, FACC. “On behalf of the entire cardiovascular care team and the patients who we serve, the College appreciates the opportunity to provide input on these concepts and encourages you to address these very pertinent and closely connected issues.”

Given the ACC’s diverse membership of cardiovascular care team members and its operation of five hospital-based, one outpatient, and two multi-specialty clinical data registries, the College is well-positioned to continue to be a leader in guiding lawmakers in this space. 

Keywords: Certification, Electronic Health Records, Goals, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Meaningful Use, Outpatients, Registries

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