Lawmaker asks HHS for health IT oversight plan

Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) is following up with the Department of Health and Human Services on a November 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine that called for increased public- and private-sector oversight of health information technology.

A first-term congresswoman who serves as chair of the House Small Business Committee's subcommittee on healthcare and technology, Rep Ellmers asked in a three-page letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius what action HHS has taken on multiple recommendations contained in the report, Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care. Specifically, rep Ellmers, a nurse, asked Sebelius for a copy of any HHS plan "to minimize patient safety risks and the associated schedule for working with the private sector as recommended by the report." She added: "If such a plan and schedule have not been issued, please so indicate and note when they may be expected to be completed and provided."