"The House of Representatives and the Senate are to be commended for including an important 'down payment' on health care reform in the economic stimulus bills," Jeffrey P. Harris, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians, said.

"I urge conferees to come to an agreement that will provide adequate funding for critical health care issues - including coverage, health information technology, comparative effectiveness and primary care. These investments will provide short- and long-term benefits to the economy," noted Dr. Harris.

Specifically, Dr. Harris urged House and Senate negotiators to:

Retain more than $20 billion in funding to help physicians and other clinicians acquire health information technology (HIT).for purposes such as quality reporting, prevention and coordination of care. Dr. Harris urged the conferees to adopt language from the Senate bill to continue to build upon the work being done by public and private multi-stakeholder groups to develop standards and certify that electronic health records have essential capabilities and functions. His letter also expressed support for providing positive financial incentives for HIT adoption as included in both the House and Senate bills, but asked conferees to accept language in the House of Representatives bill to provide a longer timeframe and increased assistance to smaller physician practices before any penalties for non-compliance are imposed…