Washington, D.C. – The Health IT Now Coalition supports the introduction of the MEDTECH Act and applauds the bipartisan effort by Senators Michael Bennet and Orrin Hatch to update our nation’s outdated regulatory framework for health IT.
“The MEDTECH Act is critical to providing quality care with access to information most relevant to the patient,” said Joel White, executive director of the Health IT Now Coalition. “The introduction of MEDTECH is an encouraging step toward providing clarity on how and by which agency health IT is regulated. It is time for our laws to reflect the technological advancements made in our healthcare system over the past four decades.”
The MEDTECH Act would update the 1970s law governing what is and is not a medical device by removing the following from covered devices:
- Software that essentially digitizes the creation, retrieval, and sharing of medical and patient information.
- Software that assists providers to quickly access and process relevant information in care delivery.
- Software used for administrative and operational support, such as scheduling, billing, and reporting.
“It is unacceptable that the laws currently governing health software, mobile apps and devices like cell phones and tablets were designed and passed when ABBA was popular and the Watergate scandal was just unfolding,” White continued. “The regulatory framework in place is ill-equipped to adapt to today’s advanced technologies and patients are losing out.”
Enabling innovations in health IT through a clearly defined, risk-based framework is critical to a technology-enabled health system that can improve health outcomes, protect patient safety and reduce costs. Health IT Now looks forward to working with Senator Bennet, Senator Hatch and the 114th Congress on this important legislation.
About Health IT Now:
Health IT Now (HITN) is a broad based coalition of patient groups, provider organizations, employers and payers that supports incentives to deploy heath information technology to improve care, provider performance, patient outcomes, and to lower costs.
###