House Passes Small Business HIT Financing Act
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3014, the Small Business Health Information Technology (HIT) Financing Act of 2009, by a voice vote. It will now be considered by the Senate.
If passed, the legislation would authorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) to guarantee up to 90% of a loan to a small business health professional to be used for the acquisition and installation of HIT products that support the "meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology.” The maximum amount of loan principal guaranteed by the SBA must not exceed $350,000 for a single professional and $2,000,000 for a group of affiliated professionals. The loans must be used for HIT that supports the provision of health care and not for IT that only facilitates financial management, maintenance of inventory of basic supplies, or appointment scheduling.
Some potential HIT offerings that support the provision of health care include, but are not limited to:
- Health information exchange.
- Communication between patients and medical professionals.
- Quality measurement.
- Evidence-based decision support.
- Consumer empowerment.
For more information about this legislation or the regulatory implementation of the “meaningful use of certified EHR technology” program, please see the ACR’s “Meaningful Use FAQ” webpage (http://www.acr.org/SecondaryMainMenuCategories/GR_Econ/WhatsNew/MeaningfulUseFAQ.aspx) or contact Michael Peters, Assistant Director of Regulatory and Legislative Portfolio, ACR Government Relations Department, at mpeters@acr-arrs.org or 703-716-7546.
