The long-anticipated Clinton-Frist health IT bill has been filed in the Senate. It is similar to a bill introduced last month in the House that would provide grants and loans to allow health information systems to be shared between clinical labs, hospitals and doctors’ offices.
The bill would also require that regional health networks be accredited and that software and equipment purchased with federal funds be certified as being interoperable.
A story from the Associated Press implies that one motivation for the bill is to generate good publicity for two presidential hopefuls from warring parties, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Frist.
