For example, the bill would require the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to designate an organization to certify electronic health records and health data exchanges. That organization might or might not be the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, which is now in the second year of its three-year contract with HHS. CCHIT, formed by three private-sector associations, has done an outstanding job of gaining market acceptance for ambulatory EHR certification, and is now embarking on certification of electronic records in hospitals, ERs and other care settings to break down the silos that prevent health care providers from communicating with each other online. To cut off CCHIT’s work just as it’s gaining traction would be a tragic waste and a political mistake.

It has also been reported that some of the work being done by the Health IT Standards Panel–a private-sector advisory panel to AHIC–would be handed over to a new, government-sponsored organization if this bill becomes law. Again, HITSPE has made a lot of progress in harmonizing standards, and it defies logic to have its vital work interrupted at a key stage.

Democratic legislators are right to question the priorities of many government health-care initiatives in the last six years. But they should be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.