Health IT Now (HITN) issued the following statement commending the Senate HELP Committee on passing the Medical Electronic Data Technology Enhancement for Consumers’ Health (MEDTECH) Act:

“HITN thanks the Senate HELP Committee for passing this important piece of legislation with broad bipartisan support. The MEDTECH Act provides greater clarity to the FDA’s role in regulating health IT which is essential to ensuring that patients can benefit from the technology revolution occurring in other areas of the economy. We are pleased to see the bipartisan support for S. 1101 and we encourage the Senate to consider this integral piece of legislation. Congressional action on this issue will allow the Administration to focus its limited resources, staff and expertise on ensuring the safety of new medical technologies that pose the highest potential risk to patients, and will promote a new era of medical innovation that will improve care and lower costs. We look forward to working with both chambers of Congress to ensure a bill addressing this issue reaches the president’s desk this year.”