Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent letters to 31 hospitals asking about their experiences using health IT systems after receiving complaints from some healthcare providers about faulty software thay said could lead to treatment errors.
The senator, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, said he wanted to resolve problems before physicians and hospitals apply to receive $19 billion in federal incentive payments starting in 2011 for adopting electronic health records stunder the health IT stimulus plan.
"Given the taxpayer investment and the investment of the health care system overall in the information technology industry, the more Congress and others overseeing implementation of this program dig into the problems and work to get them sorted out now, the better," Grassley said in a statement Jan. 20.
Providers have told Grassley they had difficulties deploying health IT systems, including administrative complications, formatting and usability issues, computer errors in the programs and interoperability between programs. For example, one software program miscalculated body weights by interchanging kilograms and pounds that resulted in incorrect medication dosage.
Some provider sources said that it was difficult to discuss problems with the vendor or peer organizations because of "alleged "˜gag orders' or non-disclosure clauses in their HIT contracts that prohibit them from sharing information regarding product defects and other HIT product-related concerns," Grassley said.
Grassley's letter surveys hospitals about their health IT purchasing process, health IT training, policies for reporting system errors, patient safety oversight and the business relationship between the facility and vendor.
Hospitals must respond to Grassley by Feb.16. The letter is at http://www.grassley.senate.gov/ .
In October, Grassley sought similar information about performance issues from 10 major health IT vendors, including Cerner Corp., Allscripts and Epic Systems Corp., and is reviewing their responses. The senator's staff is still analyzing that information before deciding on the next steps, the senator's spokeswoman said in a follow-up email.
Among the 31 hospitals that Grassley sent letters to were Cedars Sinai Children's National Medical Center, Geisinger Medical Center, Intermountain Healthcare, Indiana University Hospital and the Kaiser Permanente System.
