Several Republican senators expressed concern over the report’s findings of insufficient oversight in the EHR program, with the ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Tom Coburn, R-Okla., calling into question the program’s integrity.
Coburn called on CMS to do a better job of policing and enforcing basic security requirements, and said he and other GOP Sens. would continue oversight to “ensure CMS takes the necessary precautions to protect taxpayers and patients.”
Last April a group of Republicans senators released a white paper, “REBOOT: Re-examining the Strategies Needed to Successfully Adopt Health IT,” outlining a litany of concerns with federal health IT policy, including potential for waste and abuse.
“Reducing the opportunities for fraud and removing the incentives for overbilling are vital to improving confidence in electronic health record programs,” said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., a senior member of the Health Committee.
The IG report “confirms the concerns we expressed last spring about the need for adequate oversight of the electronic health record program to prevent waste and fraud,” said John Thune, R-S.D. “As the administration continues to implement the next stages of the meaningful use [EHR incentive] program, CMS must do more to ensure that the technology it approves better protects taxpayer dollars.”
