New Regulations Outline Content, Transmission Standards for Every Americans’ Electronic Health Records

Friday, July 16, 2010
By Matt Cover, Staff Writer

(CNSNews.com) – New regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday outline federal standards for the electronic health records that every American must have by 2014.

The regulations, developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and issued by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, are the first concrete step for the government as it pursues the goal – first outlined in the 2009 economic stimulus law – of making all health care providers use the electronic record systems by 2014. the rest

If doctors or hospitals do not comply and insist on using the traditional paper record-keeping systems, the federal government will penalize them by docking their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, making it harder for them to stay in business.

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