I started this week in Lillington at a Veterans Day award ceremony, then headed back to Washington to begin the final weeks of legislative work before the new session in January. This week my work included a hearing in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Benghazi where we continued to find answers to the White House’s handling of the 9/11 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
In this newsletter, you will find a link to my interview regarding that hearing, as well as information about my letter to HHS requesting answers relating to safety issues surrounding electronic health-record systems.
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Honoring Our Veterans
On Monday, I attended a Veterans Day award ceremony in which Doris Bullock Gardner received a Purple Heart that her father, Pfc. Noah Bullock, won while fighting in France in World War I.
WRAL reported on the ceremony:
Col. Randy Powell, commander of the North Carolina National Guard’s 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, a descendant of Bullock’s 30th Infantry Division, and 2nd District Congresswoman Renee Ellmers presented the medals to Gardner during a Veterans Days observance at the Harnett County Veterans Memorial Park.
“For somebody to be thought of and be recognized like he was today, it means a whole lot to the family,” grandson Ted Gardner said.
Also Monday, Pfc. Trevor Adkins’ name was added to the granite marker in the memorial park. The Spring Lake native was killed near Kabul, Afghanistan, in July by an improvised explosive device.
Click here for the full report.
Looking for Answers on the Benghazi Attack
Yesterday, I spoke to Jonathan Hunt on Fox News Live about Thursday’s Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Benghazi.
Click here or on the image below to watch the full interview:
Pushing for Answers from HHS
This week, I sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius calling for answers to reports of safety concerns in electronic health-record systems.
“Almost five months ago … I wrote to you to request a copy of your plan to minimize health IT patient safety risks and a number of related documents, or the status of those documents if not yet complete, with the documents to follow. Now, just five weeks before the one year anniversary of IOM’s report, we have heard nothing from the department about the status of any of my requests. Meanwhile, we continue to see media reports of patient safety risks related to health IT.”
You can find a copy of the full letter on my website and more information in the following news reports.
In the News
Lawmaker Reiterates Request for Update on Health IT Safety Issues
iHealthBeat
On Wednesday, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reiterating a prior request for information about whether HHS has taken steps to improve its oversight of health IT systems, as recommended in a 2011 Institute of Medicine report.
Rep. Ellmers pushes HHS on safety of health technology
The Hill
Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) is still looking for answers from the Health and Human Services Department about the safety risks associated with electronic health records.
Lawmaker seeks answers in health IT safety inquiry
Modern Healthcare
Rep. Renee Ellmers is still waiting for answers to questions both she and the Institute of Medicine have raised about the safety of electronic health-record systems, and on Wednesday, the North Carolina Republican followed up on her inquiry.
After 5 Months No Reply From Sebelius on IT-Related Inquiry Small Biz Panel Complains
CQ
In a letter to Sebelius obtained by CQ HealthBeat, the chairwoman, North Carolina Republican Renee Ellmers, complained about the lack of a reply to her June 12, 2012, letter to Sebelius. That letter asked, among other things, what the department is doing to minimize patient safety risks associated with health IT, following an Institute of Medicine report issued a year ago calling for greater public and private oversight of technology.