Sebelius Boosts Blumenthal’s Authority August 20, 2009

HDM Breaking News, August 18, 2009

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has delegated administrative responsibility to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology for most of the grant and loan funding sections of the HITECH Act within the economic stimulus law.

The action, detailed in a notice published Aug. 18 in the Federal Register, does not cover the Medicare/Medicaid incentive programs for meaningful use of electronic health records systems.

National Coordinator David Blumenthal, M.D., now has administrative authority for all but one part of Sections 3011 through 3017 of Subtitle B, “Incentives for the Use of Health Information Technology,” in the HITECH Act. The exception is Section 3012 (c) (5), under which the HHS secretary may provide financial support to health information technology regional extension centers. Blumenthal has administrative authority for other extension center activities under that section.

The affected sections under Sebelius’ delegation to Blumenthal cover:

3011: funding to strengthen the health I.T. infrastructure through development of standards, certification of EHRs, and development of best practices to support secure nationwide exchange of data;
3012: health I.T. technical implementation assistance including development of a research center and regional extension centers;
3013: state grants to promote health I.T.;
3014: grants to states and Indian tribes for loan programs to facilitate EHR adoption;
3015: demonstration programs to integrate I.T. into clinical education;
3016: Increasing use of I.T. professionals in health care; and
3017: analyzing the effectiveness of grant and loan programs.

The notice is available at gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.