A powerful Congressional subcommittee in the US has approved a bill to push the adoption of electronic health records (eHealth) in the American health system.

The health subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce passed the PRO(TECH)T Act, legislation that aims to strengthen the quality of health care, reduce medical errors and costs by encouraging the adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT).

The Act also contains measures to protect the privacy and security of health information.

“Your grocery store automatically knows what brand of chips you bought last year, but your cardiologist doesn’t automatically know what prescriptions your family doctor prescribed for you yesterday,” said Energy and Commerce committee chairman John D Dingell.

“That’s problematic for health care quality and costs. The PRO(TECH)T Act provides for the adoption of standards to allow providers across the country to exchange health information about their patients,” he said.

The full name of the proposed legislation is the “Protecting Records, Optimising Treatment, and Easing Communication through Healthcare Technology Act of 2008”

“(The legislation) also strengthens current federal privacy protections and expands them to new entities that store your electronic health information,” Rep Dingell said.

The drive to improve electronic health records in the giant US health sector will add momentum to the already fast developing eHealth market.