Analysis of Healthcare Data Would Improve Quality and Affordability (Sen. Judd Gregg)

I am pleased that the bipartisan Promotion of Health Information Technology (PHIT) Act was recently introduced in the House. The legislation includes key language similar to that of the bipartisan Wired for Health Care Quality Act, which I offered earlier this year with Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), that allows highly qualified experts and organizations to analyze Medicare data in order to lower overall health care costs and improve quality of care. The bill unanimously passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in June.

Our language would dramatically improve the quality and affordability of health care through the analysis of federal health care data. Businesses and health insurance plans in the private sector already utilize their own data to compare and examine cost and effectiveness of care for their workers. This language expands that research effort by allowing highly qualified organizations to access federal health care data to determine effective health care solutions for all Americans.