Dive Brief:
- The House Energy and Commerce Committee has released a health IT-related white paper and asked for comment on legal and commercial barriers preventing health-related technologies from being more widely adopted.
- The white paper looks at several technologies, including genomics, health IT, data analytics and mobile medical applications.
- The committee is asking for comments on whether using such technologies to compile big data in healthcare can infringe on patient privacy, and whether providers have good enough security in place to prevent data breaches.
Dive Insight:
By its efforts, the committee hopes to see that a legal and regulatory framework is in place that supports the development of a "digital healthcare ecosystem" that can serve as a catalyst for discoveries in healthcare technology. Members of the committee have said that they want to support new technology development, while making sure that regulatory policies protect patient safety. They may end up breaking new ground here, as health IT is still largely unregulated.