House moves forward with health IT promotion bill

A House subcommittee focused on health issues yesterday approved a bill (HR 4157) designed to boost health IT usage nationally through privacy standards and EHRs (electronic health records).

To meet its goal, the bill would establish a committee within the HHS for the purpose of providing guidance relating to national standards for medical data storage and interoperability.

The bill would also mandate that a privacy standard be created that would iron out differences between state and federal laws relating to stored data or information that is transmitted digitally. The HSS secretary would oversee this process.           

Regarding billing codes, the bill would increase the number of codes available to providers for insurance claims from 24,000 to 200,000 by the latter half of 2009.

Around the web

Positron, a New York-based nuclear imaging company, will now provide Upbeat Cardiology Solutions with advanced PET/CT systems and services. 

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.