Lobbyists Gut EHR Disclosure Bill

A California bill requiring more transparent electronic health records became a bit more opaque when state lawmakers accepted amendments advocated by health care providers.

As originally written, the "track-changes" bill -- SB 850 -- required clinicians to record all changes made to patient EHRs along with who made the changes, and made both sets of information available to patients.

Those provisions prompted opposition from the California Association of Physician Groups, the California Hospital Association and the California Medical Association, according to California Watch, a nonprofit investigative reporting website.

The California Assembly Health Committee approved the bill last week after removal of the provision that required inclusion of all changes in the EHR. Providers will still have to keep a log of the changes, but patients won't see them. Lawyers will be able to get the information, though, preserving a patient's ability to track their treatment.

One proposal would have alerted patients that changes were made without letting them see the changes, but that measure died when it was opposed by Kaiser Permanente, California Watch reported.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee approved the bill 7-2 on Tuesday and referred it to the full Assembly for debate.