Bill Provides Cover for EHR Errors

A new bill introduced in Congress would give Medicare and Medicaid providers limited liability protection for electronic health record errors.

Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., says the bill "would create a system for reporting potential errors that occur when using electronic records without the threat of that information being used as an admission of guilt."

The Safeguarding Access For Every Medicare Patient Act, HR 3239, also prevents plaintiffs' lawyers from using EHRs as "an easy source for 'fishing expeditions,'" Marino says in a news release. Health-care providers would be able to correct EHR problems "without having those actions be used to establish guilt," according to the release. It also would limit when lawsuits could be filed, and protect against libel and slander lawsuits.

Marino says his bill reduces fear of expensive lawsuits and thereby promotes EHR adoption by Medicare and Medicaid providers. "Every time a doctor or hospital chooses not to participate because of these fears," he says, "our seniors lose another provider."

To qualify for protections under the bill, providers would have to demonstrate that they are using certified health IT products or meet federal criteria for "meaningful use."

The bill has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.